Terraces abandonment. Elaboration of an accessibility model and cartography in a GIS environment: the Colca Valley, (Arequipa, Peru)

Abstract

Study results of terraces abandonment in a Colca Valley area (Peru) are presented. Such process is a clear evidence of the traditional productive transformation due to leisure activities emergence. It involves important environmental consequences related with erosion, vegetation and water management, threatening the millenary balance between land uses and conservation. Cartography and land inventory are combined in a GIS with the aim to design a deterministic accessibility model. Results prove the correlation between abandonment and minor accessibility, with a vertical behavior modified by the incidence of other factors. Data analysis allows (a) to detect differences in location and magnitude of such abandonment, (b) to identify critic areas arising from the traditional model crisis, and (c) to value the importance of an intervention focused in recovering the system sustaintability.