Environmental impact of sheep grazing in the Chimborazo Faunal Reserve

Abstract

The Chimborazo Faunal Production Reserve, located in the high Andean paramo around Chimborazo Volcano in the provinces of Chimborazo, Tungurahua and Bolívar, was established in 1987 with the objective of implementing a management program for native Andean camelids - llamas, alpacas and vicuñas. However, within the protected area and in communities around the reserve, prevailing cultural practices from the colonial era remain, including the grazing of sheep, an introduced species. The environmental impact study of the livestock production system in the Chimborazo Reserve, carried out in the northern sector of the Reserve, Cunuyacu in Tungurahua province, Ambato canton, Pilahuin parish, included three important aspects: assessment of current status of social organizations and of grazing activities in the region, the impact on the environment of grazing systems, and the development of rural production systems.   The study employed a matrix analysis and determined that the level of impact to the natural ecosystem is between 50% and 70%. Corrective actions are required for the cultural activities that are most damaging to the ecosystem, the change in vegetation cover as a direct effect of sheep grazing. Grazing as practiced in the area is causing the loss of biodiversity as well as accelerated erosion processes with direct effects especially in water retention, thereby decreasing groundwater recharge, affecting the water volume available for the Andean valleys downstream from the Reserve.