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The growing profile of glaciers in Peru

05.09.2016

With the creation of the National Institute for Research in Glaciers and Mountain Ecosystems (INAIGEM), Peru’s  national government is strengthening its role in investigating the nexus of climate change, glacial recession, natural hazards and the management of water and other mountain-based ecosystem services in the Central Andes. The establishment of INAIGEM within the Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) marks a significant renewal and expansion of Peru’s legal and institutional support for mountain and glacier research in a country that features the majority of the planet’s remaining tropical glaciers, as well as a long history of glacier-related catastrophes.

As one of its first major initiatives, INAIGEM hosted the International Glacier and Mountain Ecosystems Forum on 10-13 August 2016 in Huaraz, Peru to convene Peruvian and international experts around a diverse agenda of mountain-related topics. Changes to glacierized mountain environments have been occurring in the Andes and worldwide, and Peruvian and international research efforts have long focused on these mountain research topics that were showcased this August in Huaraz.

The Peruvian Congress officially established INAIGEM—in Spanish, the Instituto Nacional de Investigación en Glaciares y Ecosistemas de Montaña—under Law Number 30286 in December 2014 during the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP20) meeting in Lima, Peru. With the world’s attention drawn to the Andean region and international efforts to limit human-induced climate change, Peru’s political leaders expressed a national responsibility—and devoted funds and government resources—to confront dwindling glaciers and vulnerable populations in the Andes. Formally, the principal objective of INAIGEM is to promote and expand the scientific and technological research of glaciers and mountain ecosystems, but more symbolically, Environmental Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, who presided over COP20 as country host and President, suggested that the creation of INAIGEM was akin to paying a “debt” owed to the mountain ecosystems. Moreover, he made explicit the point that INAIGEM would be not only an important tool to promote research but also a means to support appropriate policy to manage water and ecosystems.

Read the full article by Bryan Mark, Associate Professor and State Climatologist at Ohio State University, on the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) blog site

Photo: MRI