Riesgos socioambientales derivados de la pérdida de servicios ecosistémicos: el caso de Ecatepec de Morelos, Estado de México

Abstract

This paper was originated in an investigation carried out in the Municipality of Ecatepec de Morelos in the period from October 2019 to March 2020, and which served as support for the update of the Municipal Urban Development Plan 2020 for the same municipality. The purpose is to recognize the socio-environmental factors that drive the construction of human settlements in ecological conservation areas and that, in the medium term, alter the surrounding ecosystems and increase their vulnerability to geological and hydrometeorological phenomena. Through an environmental risk analysis methodology, the socio-environmental impacts generated by irregular settlements on ecological conservation areas are analyzed, as the houses are located in areas of high slope, it makes them more vulnerable to the phenomena mencioned. Even these areas are accessible to certain sectors of the population, in terms of rent or purchase of housing, such practices are usually illegal, and bring with them the deterioration of the existing natural vegetation, in addition to the loss of ecosystem services derived from the unplanned urban growth. These invasions correspond to a permanent process that includes complex variables, such as the deterioration of the quality of life, economic insufficiency to satisfy needs and in a synergistic way, generates social problems such as insecurity and violence.