The wetlands of the jalca ecoregion in the Andes of northern Peru form peat and play a major role in the hydrological ecosystem services of the ecoregion. Although peat is globally valued for carbon sequestration and storage, peatlands have not yet been mapped in the jalca. In this region, the Gocta waterfall, one of the 20 highest waterfalls in the world, depends on the jalca’s wetlands ecosystem. The local population depends on tourism to the waterfall and is concerned about preserving its drainage area. To inform conservation planning, in this study we delimited the drainage area of the Gocta waterfall and identified land tenure by applying Geographic Information System (GIS), remote sensing and participatory mapping techniques. Then, by classifying optical, radar and digital elevation models data, we mapped peatland in the jalca of the Gocta drainage area with an overall accuracy of 97.1%. Our results will inform conservation strategy in this complex area of communal, private and informal land tenure systems. At a regional level, this appears to be the first attempt at mapping peatlands using remote sensing imagery in the jalca ecoregion, and it represents a milestone for future efforts to map and conserve peatlands in other tropical mountain areas of the world.

秘鲁北部安第斯山脉的哈尔卡生态区湿地形成泥炭，在该生态区的水文生态系统服务中发挥着重要作用。尽管泥炭在碳封存和储存方面受到全球重视，但尚未在哈尔卡绘制泥炭地地图。在这个地区，世界上 20 个最高的瀑布之一的戈克塔瀑布依赖于哈尔卡的湿地生态系统。当地居民依赖瀑布旅游业，并关心保护其流域面积。为了为保护规划提供信息，在本研究中，我们通过应用地理信息系统 (GIS)、遥感和参与式制图技术，划定了戈克塔瀑布的流域面积并确定了土地权属。然后，通过对光学、雷达和数字高程模型数据进行分类，我们绘制了Gocta 流域jalca的泥炭地，总体精度为 97.1%。我们的研究结果将为这个由公共、私人和非正式土地保有制度组成的复杂领域的保护战略提供信息。在区域层面上，这似乎是在哈尔卡生态区使用遥感图像绘制泥炭地地图的首次尝试，并且它代表了未来在世界其他热带山区绘制和保护泥炭地地图的里程碑。