MINGA PARA MI RÍO PROJECT
“Minga para mi Río" project seeks to conserve and protect rivers and their biodiversity in order to maintain the ecological processes and ecosystem services that they offer. Our proposal is to involve many entrepreneurs, thinkers, managers, academics and artists to offer and carry out various activities for the conservation of rivers. For this, the project is made up of the following components: Citizen Science, River Restoration, a Sustainability Model, and Fluvial Reserves.
CITIZEN SCIENCE IN THE RIVERS OF THE ANDEAN-AMAZON BASINS OF ECUADOR
START – END DATE: September 2020 – July 2022
STATUS: On-going project
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Dr. Andrea C. Encalada (USFQ Researcher)
LOCATION: Rivers of the Andean-Amazonian Basin of Ecuador
FUNDING: Gordon y Betty Moore Foundation
The Citizen Science project will be developed in three sites in the Curaray and Nushiño basins: Gareno, Gomataon and Geyepade to establish a community monitoring system of freshwater ecosystems (rivers, streams and lagoons). The rivers selected to be monitored are all in the Napo basin, one of the most biodiverse Amazon regions, and located along a significant elevation gradient (from 178 to 1000 m.a.s.l.). The project will contribute to the empowerment of local actors through the monitoring and management of their rivers, and will contribute to the generation of scientific knowledge on a regional scale within the Citizen Science for the Amazon program, promoting citizen participation in decision-making, and contributing to the conservation of the Amazon Basin. This monitoring will generate information on aquatic biodiversity (fish and invertebrates), environmental services (fisheries and other uses of water), ecological integrity (physical, chemical and microbiological parameters), and water pollution (analysis of solid and liquid contaminants).
Researchers
- Andrea Encalada (USFQ): Project Coordinator
- Esteban Suárez (USFQ): Ecology and Conservation
- Valeria Ochoa-Herrera (USFQ): Solid waste management and treatment
- José Daza (USFQ): Monitoring of aquatic environments
- Daniela Rosero (USFQ): Monitoring of aquatic environments
- Claudia Serrano (USFQ): Monitoring of aquatic environments
- Segundo Chimbolema (USFQ): Monitoring of aquatic environments
- Carla Villamarín (USFQ): Monitoring of aquatic environments
- Diego Mosquera (USFQ): Monitoring of aquatic environments
- Junior Chuctaya: Taxonomy
- Elizabeth Anderson (FIU): Remote sensing consultancy
- Paulo Olivas (FIU): Remote Sensing consultancy
