IFAD News - 17 May 2021

Figure: A group walks through the Cañete river basin to monitor the restoration of wetlands. (Comunidad Campesina de Laraos).

In the high Andes of Peru, rural farmers are becoming sustainable stewards of the ecosystems on which they depend – bolstering the region’s water security and their own livelihoods. IFAD is supporting these rural farmers the Conservation and Sustainable Use of High-Andean Ecosystems project, through compensation of environmental services for rural poverty alleviation and social inclusion.

The campesinos, as they’re known, carve out their living at high altitudes, competing with the harsh sun and the seasonal (and increasingly variable) rainfall, snow, and extreme cold.

Ninety per cent of the occupants of the Cañete and Jequetepeque river basins rely on these bodies of water, the surrounding courses and wetlands, and the native grasslands for cultivating vegetables (potato, wheat, pea, maize, ulluco, and oca) and tending livestock.

In these regions, the levels of extreme poverty are high. There are also around 10,000 hectares of degraded ecosystems across Cañete and Jequetepeque, meaning the river basins’ ability to provide ecosystem services – in particular, a consistent water supply throughout the year – is severely curtailed. They thus rank high on the Peruvian Government’s environmental agenda.

“What we would like for the future is to maintain the number of lakes and water bodies that exist in the area,” says Luis López of the Asociación de Productores Agropecuarios ABC. “And the only way to achieve this is by doing reforestation and conservation actions, which will contribute to the sustainability and development of our community.”

IFAD has invested US$1.6 million to work with community groups as they restore and conserve nearly 15,000 hectares of native forest, grasslands and high Andean wetland habitats. Their actions will include reforestation with native species, fencing and sustainable use of grasslands, and installation of barriers throughout the wetlands.

Through Compensation for Ecosystem Services systems, known in Peru as MERESE, downstream users of ecosystem services remunerate the upstream rural populations who maintain them. This system promotes continued efforts to sustainably manage local ecosystems, including the adoption of conservation and restoration practices beyond those undertaken on behalf of the project.

See more https://www.ifad.org/en/web/latest/-/restoring-ecosystem-services-in-the-peruvian-andes