Importance of the Moors

The planet offers us a vast variety of landscapes, and we can determine, with the naked eye (even without knowing characteristics deep or determined as annual rainfall or average atmospheric density) what kind of ecosystem is.

First of all, we will say that ecosystem is a set of living beings (biotic) and non-living beings (abiotic) that share a certain territory and defined by particular climatic conditions and the natural environment is also specific.

In this sense, the páramo is defined as such by two fundamental questions: on the one hand, the relief of the ground, which is mountain, and the weather, which in general is always intertropical (a hot climate). Sometimes a wasteland is often thought of as a solitary and totally adverse territory for the development of life, but this is a frequent confusion of concepts. on the moors the vegetation can be abundant, they have a wide fauna and even since the times of the first civilizations, such as the case of the Amerindian peoples of South America, the The mountains that were part of the páramos were the main source of water, because streams and streams originated from many of them. rivers.

In fact, South and Central America, together with the African continent, are the three areas of the planet with the greatest presence of this type of ecosystem, especially for its large and imposing mountain formations (the case of Los Andes in South America) and due to the intertropical climate that prevails during most of the year, in the case of Central America and Africa.

However, in these areas, there is a strong current controversy about the role of man as a transformer of the nature: in the case of the páramos, due to the great presence of mountains, it is frequent that exploitations with the purpose of promoting mining activity, and in many countries, governments keep a close eye on these matters, as mining companies often contribute large sums in taxes or regional development in the areas where they settle (as in the case of the demand for labour).

Likewise, not only mining exploitation causes havoc in the páramos, but also the logging, which in the case of Argentina is really worrisome: during the 20th century, for example, the Argentine territory lost approximately 40% of its native forests (especially those in the Northwest) even when there are laws that regulate logging in areas (which should be) protected.