WETLANDS ECOTOURISM PLANNING IN THE SAVANNAS OF COLOMBIA. LINKING REMOTE SENSING AND BIO-DIVERSITY

Ecotourism has become a practice of socio-environmental interest and a conservation strategy aimed at protecting environments with high natural interest, whose lack of planning can compromise the quality of the environment. Therefore, it is necessary to explore territorial planning methods, such as remote sensing techniques, as efficient tools in predicting biodiversity - birds in this paper. In this way, the research explores using the Normalized Differential Water Index (NDWI) and biodiversity information for the design and planning of ecotourism destinations in the savannas of Colombia. Through satellite images, digital cartography, and the NDWI index, lagoon complexes were identified in a high potential region for bird watching in a key biological corridor of the Colombian savannas. This methodology made it possible to determine patterns of presence, abundance, and distribution of avifauna by classifying lagoon bodies. The results of the NDWI index facilitated the identification of 181 bodies of water in the study area and 12 visit routes for bird watching based on the recognition of potential sites whose natural wealth represents a tourist factor in the territory. This work is the first documented planning initiative for a design with technical support of birdwatching routes in the savannas of Colombia through remote sensing.