(Introduction):

The soil of the paramo contains large amounts of organic carbon, due to the low temperatures which reduce the decomposition of the organic matter that accumulates. These soils provide an important ecosystem service worldwide, acting as sinks by regulating the level of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. Additionally, the analysis of the environmental perception of these ecosystem services will help to their conservation.

(Objective):

Evaluate the perception that inhabitants have on the ecosystem services and determine the economic value of the carbon content in the soils of the paramo near the Cubilán Protective Forest, Ecuador.

(Methodology):

Through an intentional sampling and a descriptive analysis, the perception of the inhabitants of 3 communes on ecosystem services of the paramo was evaluated. In addition, to determine the economic value of carbon, 2 scenarios were proposed (intervened and natural soils) and the method that obtains the damage cost avoided globally due to the mitigation of climate change was applied.

(Results):

The inhabitants perceive the 4 categories used to define the ecosystem services with a marked hierarchy. On the other hand, the intervened soils lose, on average, 26 % of carbon content compared to the content of natural sites, which, translated into an economic value, represents a monetary loss of approximately 6 %.

(Conclusions):

The ecosystem services of this paramo are adequately perceived in its area of influence. Continuing with anthropogenic activities (livestock and/or agriculture) contributes to carbon content and economic losses.