As already mentioned in a previous point, the focus of the SMEHP Chillca lies on the bofedales and on their interaction with other ecosystems and their transition zones (ecotones). Bofedales can be considered (semi-natural) ecohydrological infrastructure and therefore understanding their functioning and how the ecosystem services they provide can be enhanced, is a crucial strategy and concept for the management of whole territories in high-Andean areas, considering an ecohydrological approach.

We haven't focused on this technology so far, although we have already started to monitor alpaca herding behavior in bofedales, which should allow us in the future to identify potential positive interactions between fauna (alpaca, birds and above all, microorganisms which live in bofedales wetlands) and ecosystem services provision by bofedales.

Although there is still a lack of sufficient (scientifically) published evidence, bofedales wetlands can also be considered to be "phytoremediators", i.e. according to their plant composition they have the capacity to filter out high concentrations of nutrients and pollutants (some of them with origin at extractive activities, like, e.g. mining in headwaters; others released by retreating glaciers caused by climate change).

It is important to state that the water retention capacity by bofedales is highly important for the continuity and persistence of environmental and hydrological flow in the watersheds of southern Peru as we are in a biome and ecoregion where there is a strong seasonality with only about 3-4 months of (heavy) rainfall and an expanding (because of the regional tendencies of climate change) dry season of up to 8 months.