Gestión ambiental del área de acampe y del Refugio Italia en Laguna Negra Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi

Abstract

Nahuel Huapi National Park has a large public-use area, including trails and mountain refuges. Given the increase in visitors to this area in recent years, a series of environmental impacts have emerged in the high mountains, such as soil erosion, the elimination of scarce habitats, landscape modification, changes in wildlife behavior (Dujisin Rebolledo, 2020), the risk of fires and the dispersal of exotic species, waste sources, erosion and pollution in watersheds and glaciers, and changes in the structure and runoff of wetlands and peatlands (APN, 2019). In particular, this paper seeks to develop environmental management measures in the third most visited refuge in the park, the Italia refuge (Manfredo Segre). Analyzing wastewater treatment, solid waste management, camping area use, and visitor flow during the 2019/2020 summer, it was found that it is possible to improve environmental quality and bring visitors closer to natural and cultural values under the criteria of sustainable development, from the perspective of planning and management of the public-use area.