A week ago I visited the Lurín River accompanying the Lima COAP Bird Watchers Club and representing the iNaturalist group in Peru.
We went to a sector of Cieneguilla that I visit every year with the family for picnic lunches. But he had never had the opportunity or the interest to walk along the riverbank.
Walking with this group, we found the river probably at its minimum flow. Just a few centimeters of water in some parts, but there were sections with almost stagnant water and also sections with no water at all.
Walk accompanying a diverse group of participants. Enthusiastic young people, parents taking their children to live the experience and, the children, some restless to walk and one full of curiosity.
This kid really surprised me with his ability to find bugs. He saw them in the leaves of the plants, in the submerged rocks, in the coarse sand bottom of the river.
We found dozens of insects that became hundreds of records for the Bioblitz in the Lurín River. Many of these species are quite a surprise of knowledge. This is the link to the project:
How important is the Lurín river for the people of Lima?
Our city is crossed by 3 rivers and the Lurín River is the most visited for recreation purposes through different routes. Unlike the Rímac and the Chillón, the Lurín has quick accesses by the highway to the south and by the road to Cieneguilla.
The Lurín basin has been called the Green Valley and it is precisely because of the greenness of its vegetation. Lima is located on the fringe of the desert and the valleys of these rivers are the only natural spaces with plants that are perennial enough to define the landscape.
We have lost this landscape in Rimac and we have not learned our lesson. Lurín needs the attention of the people of Lima if we want to maintain the values of a landscape that we need for our well-being.