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Improving water regulation in Andean forest landscapes

01.10.2020

Local organizations and smallholder farmer communities in Peru are taking action to improve water regulation and sanitation in Andean forest landscapes and exchange knowledge with other districts. Communities in Ccerabamba, Huironay, Pacchani, Kiuñalla, Llanucancha, Atumpata and Micaela Bastidas held activities to protect springs, plant native trees and build ccochas (artisanal reservoirs). They also installed a hydrological monitoring system to evaluate the impact of their activities.

These collective activities were planned with the support of the Andean Forests Programme and a working party composed of local organizations and communities, which helped to establish relationships built on trust and to make progress in local governance. This regional project is executed by Helvetas Swiss Inter-cooperation and CONDESAN.

Climate change poses a great risk to Andean forest landscapes, and to their important role in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Currently, many Andean countries' resources for addressing climate change are mostly geared towards the lowlands. However, it is key to integrate them into climate change and natural resource management strategies and policies in the countries of the Andean region. Only 5 to 10 percent of original Andean forests remain today, yet 40 million people depend on them for their environmental services.

The Andean Forest Programme (part of the Global Climate Change and Environment Programme of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and facilitated in Peru by Helvetas Swiss Inter-cooperation) is located in Apurimac, a mountainous region with altitudes ranging from 1 000 to 5 450 metres. Climate change is taking a toll on the region's water supply, as evidenced by glacier retreat, increases in average temperatures and changes in rain patterns, which are shown in variations of the hydrological cycle, reducing the availability of water in the dry season.

The collaboration between the programme and communities provides the basis for the National Sanitation Services Superintendence to comply with laws concerning payment for ecosystem services, and to reserve funds from the drinking water tariff for activities for protecting and restoring the water source in the city of Abancay, the capital of the Apurimac Department.

The activities are currently managed by the Abancay Municipal Drinking Water Company, together with local organizations and communities. It is the first project in Peru to use a system of this kind in the sanitation sector.

The programme shared its experiences in Abancay through the webinar "Agreements on payment for ecosystem services", held on 5 June 2020 during World Environment Day. The webinar was an opportunity to exchange and analyze information about the payment for ecosystem services system in the Mariño micro-basin of Abancay.

Panelists covered a variety of related topics, including adopting the landscape approach, water companies' reinvestment into landscape restoration and how to further ensure quality sanitation services.

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Watch the webinar

Photo by Nicolas Villauem