Studies carried out by Nature and Culture (NCI) in the humid forests and páramos of Ayabaca, have shown that these ecosystems also called “high mountain”, provide flows of 4 thousand 400 liters of water per second permanently to the Quiroz basin.

According to information from Walac, this amount of water allows for up to 6,700 bottles of water to fill. “The information collected and analyzed for more than 5 years is part of the Initiative on Hydrological Monitoring in Andean Ecosystems (IMHEA), whose objective is to generate information on the hydrology of the high mountain ecosystems of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru”. The website said.

The study shows that the flows generated in the humid forests and páramos of Ayabaca and Pacaipampa are permanent, remaining even in the driest periods.

The vegetation and soil of both ecosystems complement each other in the purpose of capturing, filtering and retaining the water particles that dominate these cold and humid environments. “In this way they manage to act like a gigantic sponge that absorbs water and then releases it slowly”, Walac explained.

According to the ZEE Economic-Ecological Zoning, there are 110,000 hectares covered by high mountain ecosystems. This translates into 50,000 hectares of fog forests and 60,000 hectares of páramos, which represent only 3% of the total area of the Piura region.