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Members’ Voices: Marie Anière-Martínez, Boana

07.09.2023

The Mountain Partnership – the United Nations alliance dedicated to mountains – is all about working together for sustainable mountain development around the world. Our vast and diverse membership counts over 500 members to date, across governments, intergovernmental organizations and civil society. In this latest Members' Voices feature, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat interviews Marie Anière-Martínez, Co-founder of Boana in Patagonia, Argentina.

Let's start with the basics: What is Boana, and how is its mission related to mountains?

Boana is a French association dedicated to supporting local initiatives for mountain ecosystem conservation and climate change adaptation in the village of El Chaltén, Austral Patagonia. Our focus lies in participatory management of mountain ecosystems, engaging in activities related to water knowledge development and mountain agroecology. Our team is a multicultural group of young women who are passionate about mountain ecosystems, and particularly emphasize involving youth in our projects.

What should other Mountain Partnership members know about the mountainous region of El Chaltén and the communities living there?

Founded in 1987 for geopolitical border demarcation, El Chaltén is known as Argentina's youngest village. It borders Los Glaciares National Park – a World Heritage site – and is surrounded by protected areas, with its ecosystems linked to the Andean Patagonian forests. It is also the first village downstream from one of Argentina's largest solid reserves of freshwater, making it a critical point for water management.

Currently, tourism drives the economy, with the village's population tripling during the summer, attracting approximately 6 000 visitors daily. The existing infrastructure struggles to handle this surge of people, with main challenges in water treatment, energy generation and waste management.

Furthermore, a large part of the community is involved in climbing, mountaineering and other mountain activities. El Chaltén residents are passionate about their local mountain landscapes and the opportunities they offer.

In what ways does Boana draw inspiration from the local community and incorporate traditional knowledge? Can you share specific instances where this has enhanced your projects?

Boana draws inspiration from the local community and incorporates traditional knowledge in El Chaltén by tapping into the village's unique history and the community's shared passion for living among glaciers and mountains. El Chaltén is a relatively new village with a diverse mix of cultural influences due to waves of immigration related to alpinism and mountain tourism, presenting a unique challenge for preserving traditional knowledge. To reinforce its evolving identity, the community has formed social movements to advocate for better living conditions, land access and environmental preservation.

We actively engage with the community through tools like community mappings, allowing us to gather the community's perceptions and observations. For instance, we created an "anthropogenic impact perception" map for water sampling, often revealing contamination hotspots that aligned with the main perceptions of the community. Our aim is to empower locals to comfortably share their observations and to validate their insights on the mountains, as many work directly within the ecosystem or engage in outdoor activities.

Additionally, Boana's latest project, the Guardianes de la Cuenca app, is based on the community's close connection to the national park and their daily experiences. It encourages community members to report observations, such as unusual tastes in water or suspicious activities near the river, harnessing the collective knowledge and observation skills of the community to uncover valuable conclusions.

Please share some specific projects that Boana has undertaken to promote sustainable mountain development and community-based conservation?

Boana's water management projects aim to conserve aquatic ecosystems within a major freshwater reserve and our work includes building a scientific network, strengthening partners' capacities, advocacy and governance.

Along with our institutional partners, the National Park Administration and the IIMyC-CONICET, we have conducted the first baseline study of surface water bodies in El Chaltén's protected area. Boana's role has been to promote and encourage public participation and responsibly share research findings with the community, ensuring full transparency. As a result, community engagement has not only facilitated the process but has also added interesting perspectives to the overall research endeavor. Our aspiration is to help build a new local water ethic and to acknowledge the community's role given its geographical location. In pursuit of this goal, we have developed a mobile app in collaboration with Waterkeepers El Chaltén which is designed to register water-related anomalies, with the aim of creating a community map of sensitive areas.

Additionally, our activities in mountain agroecology include experimenting with cultivation techniques that are adapted to southern Patagonia's climatic challenges and organizing workshops for local children. Our aim is to encourage creative thinking and foster local knowledge about healthy food production, soil amendments, recycling opportunities, development of a seed bank and more.

What tangible impact has Boana had on mountain communities and ecosystems? How many people have benefited from your initiatives?

In El Chaltén, our impact is very rewarding and significant due to the community's small scale, and knowledge is easily co-created and shared. Water-related projects directly benefit about 2 000 inhabitants of El Chaltén and up to 6 000 daily visitors. Since creating the first water baseline study, the National Park can address issues like fecal contamination at popular sites. This research has fostered a renewed sense of ownership over safeguarding our water landscapes. From 2022 to 2023, around 50 adults and children received training to understand water quality parameters and carry on the research protocol. Furthermore, 65 school students, aged from 12 to 17 years old, learned about pollution's impact on El Chaltén's two rivers.

Another positive societal outcome is the reinforcement of a "waterkeepers" community that rallied against contaminated wastewater this year. The research project equipped citizens with scientific data to take legal action, collecting 85 signatures to demand access to wastewater quality information.

What does it mean to Boana to be a member of the Mountain Partnership?

For us, being part of the Mountain Partnership is a way to strengthen collaboration across various levels, exchange information, and expand our horizons. Mountain ecosystems face similar challenges, and the sharing of knowledge and strategies is vital to building effective programs. Moreover, it serves as a means of inspiration, as we can observe an array of initiatives focused on boosting mountain resilience.

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