Decontamination and Design of a Sustainable Plan for the Subsequent Protection of the Wetlands of Charcho Azul and El Pondaje in Cali Colombia Through the Implementation of a Comunity Based Environmental School

According to the Health Epidemiological Surveillance System, people in Comuna 13 in Cali have the highest hospitalization rates in the city related to vector borne diseases such as Dengue, Zika and Chikunguña and suffer from respiratory diseases, product of the contamination of the water in the wetlands of “Charco Azul” and “El Pondaje” in the region. This contamination results from wastewater dumping, urban growth, unawareness and inadequate solid waste management. Contaminated water hosts mosquitoes that transmit diseases and emits methane gases and odors that harm the olfactory mucosa, while contact can cause scabies and ringworm in the skin as well as eye infection and irritation. Climate change induces a transformation in the hydrology and temperature of the wetland that reduces it's capacity to purify air and generates disservices such as the production of nocive gases that deepens the impact of contamination and further affects human health.