Article about project area: Landslides in Ciudadela Reinaldo Espinosa, Loja, Ecuador

In the two last weeks of February 2002 a reconnaissance of the MAP:GAC project area was made jointly with INGEMMET (Peru). The binational mission was presided over by the main authorities of each institution, its staff and coordinators.

This cooperative activity allowed the interchange of cartographic, geographic and geologic information as well as establishing the basic framework of joint work. As a result, there has been progress upgrading and editing the Binational Geologic Map Ecuador-Peru, scale 1:1,000,000. It is expected in the coming months that joint field work will be undertaken in order to unify criteria regarding some geological formations and in general to harmonize geological standards between the two countries.

The beginning of MAP:GAC has allowed DINAGE to promote two other complementary projects such as the “Geoenvironmental Study in the Alamor River Basin”, approved by UNESCO and to be developed under the auspices of the German government and its geologic agency BGR. Also being developed is the “Geoenvironmental Binational Project of the Border Region Ecuador-Peru”. These three projects will be carried out jointly between DINAGE (Ecuador) and INGEMMET (Peru).

Working meetings with local governments, Civil Defense, universities, and others in the areas of influence of the MAP:GAC have served to establish a database of the information available, to be used in the completion of the projects.