Mountain communities adapting to changing ecosystems in Peru

In the Peruvian Andes, farming communities are adapting to present and future climate change impacts through nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based adaptation.

Keywords: Ecosystem based Adaptation (EbA), Nature-based Solutions (NbS), sustainable water management

Climate change is having a dramatic impact on the lives of people living in the Peruvian Andes. Nearly 40% of the region’s glaciers have melted since the 1970s as a result of rising temperatures – all the more alarming given that 70% of the world’s tropical glaciers are found in Peru. As water sources dry up, low agricultural production, particularly of native crops, and a lack of opportunities have forced people, especially the young, to migrate to towns and cities. 

Many households in mountain communities have shifted from agricultural activities to less labor-intensive cattle farming, with around 70% of the local population today depending on cattle, alpaca and sheep grazing for their livelihoods. Unfortunately, this makes them highly dependent on healthy grassland ecosystems and a steady supply of water. Moreover, weak community organization and dense cattle distribution has caused further degradation of grassland ecosystems. 

To address these challenges, Peru-based NGO Instituto de Montaña (The Mountain Institute) has partnered with the Miraflores community since 2013 to promote ‘Mountain Ecosystem-Based Adaptation’. The intervention was planned with the Nor-Yauyos Cochas Landscape Reserve, located in the upper Cañete and Pachacayo river basins of the Lima and Junin regions. The 12 local communities that live here depend on traditional water management systems dating back to the pre-Inca period.

With adaptation at the heart of the project, the project team worked to develop sustainable water management practices in degraded wetlands and pastures. Together with external specialists, staff of the Nor Yauyos Cochas Landscape Reserve, and local researchers drawn from Miraflores community, the project team carried out an extensive integrated participatory rural appraisal to design ‘no regrets’ measures, highlighting the linkages between livelihoods and ecosystems. 

This participatory process helped to install a sense of ownership and enhanced local people’s knowledge of climate change, nature-based solutions (NbS) and ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA). By recognizing the linkages between ecosystems, livelihoods and climate change, the community was better able to understand some of the expected benefits provided by ecosystem services, such as the increased provision of water and fodder. 

As a result of the participatory appraisal, the decision was made to implement community-based sustainable management of water and native grasslands. This EbA measure was twofold, involving the management of wetlands, and their associated vegetation (mainly native grasslands) to provide water storage, groundwater recharge and regulation services; and community-based sustainable native grassland management to enhance pastoral livelihoods, increase resilience to drought, frost, and other extreme events, and also provide water regulation services. 

The project was centered around three pillars: institutional strengthening and community organization; capacity building to enhance local and traditional knowledge; and the construction of ‘green-grey’ infrastructure. To this end, a community water and grassland management plan was developed and the natural resource management committee was strengthened. In addition, traditional and technological knowledge were linked, particularly for identifying best practices to apply on the ground. 

“Working with conservationists, engineers and anthropologists, Miraflores community members decided to refurbish an ancient water management system designed by their ancestors,” explains Florencia Zapata, Co-Director of Instituto de Montaña. “This renovated system is a hybrid of gray [constructed] and green [from nature] infrastructure that makes the most of ancient engineering and modern science. Thus, the local community, scientists and practitioners, working together were able to restore water flow to native grasslands and pastures, and improve livestock and pastureland management – which is a key adaptation to climate change”. 

Maintenance of Yanacancha's fence © Instituto de Montaña

The fencing of a battery of six ancestral dams (one above the other), which date back to around 700 to 1,000 years ago, was maintained and enlarged to prevent cattle and other animals from entering, thereby enabling natural regeneration and wetland enhancement. Furthermore, an ancient water channel was restored to transport water to a key grazing area. This, together with a second fence that keeps animals away from crops in the terraces until the harvest season, has allowed the local community to create a grazing rotation system, reducing pressure from animals on the community grazing area. 

Furthermore, thanks to the strengthened community organization, compliance with regulations to reduce livestock stocking and improve pasture management is better achieved. Moreover, the initial intervention on 165 hectares in the new grazing area catalyzed improved rangeland management on 7,000 hectares in the community due to better livestock rotation and limitation.

“The conservation of pastures and water is of benefit to the whole village and to the animals,” says Libertad Francia Martínez, a Miraflores farmer and local researcher. “In the preserved pasture we will be able to milk our cows, make our cheese to sell and also the animals will be preserved, no longer skinny but fat. We will be able to sell the bulls, the heifers, and the cows. Water is very necessary. To me the project changed me to take more interest in what we do and not to be left behind, to never fall behind, to always be learning and thus also to teach our children and grandchildren."

The intervention has had a significant impact on local people’s lives. Through the project activities, the community has been able to apply EbA to better manage and protect the native grasslands, and improve the upper micro-watershed wetland, bringing a wide variety of environmental benefits. This has had knock-on social benefits, with local people developing a newfound appreciation for communal land management, and recognizing the valuable role it plays in building social, economic and environmental resilience. Governance arrangements have been strengthened too, with community members better able to control their adaptation responses. Finally, local communities’ capacity and skills have been strengthened, leading to higher incomes and ultimately a greater overall resilience to the climate-related challenges they face. 

“Previously, the plans made in the community were unrealistic, non-participatory and had nothing to do with the communities,” explains Raúl Crispin Robladillo, a Landscape Reserve Park Ranger. “The grassland and participatory water management plan now developed is important. The people themselves have assumed responsibility and they want it to be implemented, beginning with higher priority actions. They are already planning on ways to address the mayor, asking him to include what the citizens want into participative budgets. And it's not just one person, it's the majority of the community."