Evaluation of Candidate Sites in a Proposal for Sustainable Development: “the Gold Route”, Nariño, Colombia

Abstract

The candidate sites to be included in a sustainable development proposal, called “The Gold Route” to be developed in the municipality of El Tambo, Nariño Colombia, were evaluated. This route combines the geological heritage and mining heritage along with the richness in biodiversity, history, and existing culture in the territory, with the use of the technique of participatory action research (PAR), participation planning, and the component disaggregation technique. The studied area is part of what IS known as “Pastos knots” (Nudo de los Pastos), considered along side the Colombian Massif, as two of the most relevant formations of the Andes Mountain Range and a hot spot for biodiversity; furthermore, it is accompanied by important deposits of gold mining that have been exploited since the pre-Columbian era with different methods of extraction and mineral benefits. Of the natural and anthropic processes that have taken place in this territory, patrimonial interest sites have been generated to be incorporated into a proposal for sustainable development: for its identification and prioritization, four main evaluations were developed: (1) assessment by the local community, (2) assessment of attributes and characteristics, (3) assessment of the visual quality of the landscape, and (4) assessment of the preferences of potential visitors. This is the evaluation outcome: (a) 15 sites evaluated, prioritized, and grouped into three phases for implementation, (b) a methodology that managed to integrate different forms of data collection and information analysis in a single document, and (c) a process and its results owned by the targeted community and the local municipal administration.