Propuesta de manejo de visitantes para la zona de campamentos de alta montaña, Reserva de Producción de Fauna Chimborazo.

Abstract

The objective of this research is to design a visitor management proposal for the existing camping area in the "El Castillo" attraction of the Chimborazo Fauna Production Reserve. This camping area is located at 5300 meters above sea level and has been used as a reference point for high mountain activities since the beginning of mountaineering in Chimborazo. Currently, due to the constant increase of visitors, this area has become the first commercial camping area in the high mountains because it is the most used route to climb to the peak of Chimborazo. This has generated several conflicts among the actors involved with the camping area, making it necessary to regulate the visitor´s activities carried out in this area. For proposal development, a specific methodology was designed based on tools such as the Limit of Acceptable Change (LAC), ROVAP, stakeholder mapping, among others, which allowed gathering the necessary information to propose a use regulation and a set of strategies to maintain an optimal state of the camping area, and that respond to the information gathered in the stakeholder mapping process. To conclude, the proposal was validated by means of an expert judgment, with an agreement that the proposal is applicable between 75% and 100%.