Resumen

FLORES ROJAS, Diana  y  HUAMANTINCO ARAUJO, Ana. Development of an environmental surveillance citizen tool based on benthic macroinvertebrates in the Jequetepeque Basin (Cajamarca, Peru). Ecol. apl. [online]. 2017, vol.16, n.2, pp.105-114. ISSN 1726-2216.  http://dx.doi.org/10.21704/rea.v16i2.1014.

The Jequetepeque river basin is threatened by mining pollution and this is one of the main causes of socio-environmental conflicts. Citizen surveillance of water bodies using Benthic Macrointertebrates can generate early warnings of pollution and relevant conservation actions. Addressing this important issue, the aim of the present study was to develop and to evaluate a citizen environmental tool for water quality surveillance for basins located in areas of mining pollution risk. Methodologically the first step was to obtain a list of taxa in the zone using the existing bibliography. This served as a basis to develop a Guide for Environmental Surveillance using Benthic Macrointertebrates. This Guide was validated in a workshop held at a river at risk of mining impact with citizens from sixteen water related organizations. Also, the results from the citizen evaluation were compared with the ones from a scientific evaluation realized by a professional biologist. Both evaluations obtained the same four Insecta Orders and a similar number of families: eleven and fourteen respectively; as well as similar water quality calcifications: “good” and “acceptable” at the ABI and BMWP/Col indexes. Families that where more easily identified where the ones with bigger size (Leptophlebiidae), greater abundance (Chironomiidae) and particular characteristics (Elmidae). It was concluded that, using the methodology that was applied and validated in this study, it is possible to perform citizen environmental surveillance of water quality in mining zones. The proposal can achieve greater efficiency after complete training.

Palabras clave : citizen environmental surveillance; community monitoring; water quality; mining pollution; benthic macro intertebrates.

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