A platform facilitates rural planning

To know about the use of the land, location of the water resources or miners of Azuay, Cañar and Morona Santiago is possible through a single digital platform and free access that systematizes the information of more than 10 public institutions, such as Senagua, Ministerio of the Environment, of Agriculture, among others.

This is announced by Omar Delgado, coordinator of the group of researchers, who explained that the platform was born a year ago with a team of five people as a research project of the University of Azuay, UDA.

The purpose of this virtual platform is to be of use to the planners or technicians in charge of the Territorial Planning Plans of the Parochial, Municipal or Provincial Boards, who have the task of updating their PDOTs until May of 2020.

Delgado, who is also director of the Sectional Studies Institute of Ecuador, IERSE, of the same university, mentioned that this tool provides answers to several needs of the planning teams, such as the lack of personnel and the lack of updated information. rural areas, the same ones that are "the least planned."

"With this platform technicians can make the diagnosis in a faster way," said Edgar Toledo, another of the researchers of the project.

Importance
For researchers, the platform facilitates work with the multiple layers of information that can be observed in a single screenshot in accordance with what is required by current regulations, such as the Land Use and Management Law, LOTUS, Organic Code Environmental, Water Resources Law, among others.    

With this platform, the researchers have presented a proposal for the organization of rural land in which they detail that only the 21,6 percent of the entire Azuay territory (an area of ​​8.628 square kilometers) is suitable for agro-productive activities. This percentage, according to Delgado, should be used by public administrators to promote economic-productive projects that are at the service of the people.

Of the total area of ​​Azuay, an 67 percent must be destined for the protection of páramos, five percent for the conservation of the water resource and an 10,4 percent is soil impoverished by its use.

René Lucero, former president of the Conagopare, mentioned that one of the difficulties of the parish councils is the preparation of the PDOTs, for this they hire consultancies, but that the result is general information that cannot be fully used. (I)

Access. The platform is free and open access, those interested should register with their name and mail. 
Proposal. The platform was presented to the new authorities of the Prefecture of Azuay, last Thursday.

Challenge. For researchers, their challenge is to keep the information that comes from public institutions updated. 
The virtual platform will be presented tomorrow at 17:00 p.m. in the Multiple Use Room of the University of Azuay. 
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UDA researchers developed the free access platform.