Dr. Fredi Portilla, UPS professor, presented a model for the analysis of change in the use of land in the Aguarongo Forest in Ecuador during the Economics Congress: Labor markets, public investment and quantitative economics which was held in Guayaquil from the 26th to the 28th of July. 

In his presentation, co-written by Daniel Zumba, graduate of the Environmental Engineering undergraduate program in Cuenca, professor Portilla presented a model that takes into account meteorological and anthropic factors for the measurement of soil loss.

This phenomenon, known as erosion, affects the agricultural production of the adjoining sectors of the Aguarongo Forest and the conservation of the forest itself. Therefore, the model proposes to facilitate the formulation of elements of mitigation and prevention of environmental risks in favor of the preservation of the natural ecosystem and the responsible management of integral farms in adjoining sectors.

The paper: "Environmental Economics: Model for analysis in the change of land use in the Protected Forest Aguarongo - Ecuador" written by Fredi Portilla Farfán, and Daniel Zumba, shows how "the model acquires relevance because it is the result of the research conducted by UPS and the Research Group in Biotechnology and Environment (INBIAM) in the Protected Forest Aguarongo". Part of this work will be published in FCSH – ESPOL's Latindex journal.

The results of this research are part of several relevant topics dealt with in the congress, such as: evaluation of impacts, economic policy, public investment in education, employment, industrial development, macro and microeconomics, business and regional economy; and environment and economic decisions.