Linking nature based solutions & ancestral practices in proglacial Andean landscapes
TierrasNuevas is a trans- and interdisciplinary project that aims to co-construct and evaluate the implementation of in situ, ancestral Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in proglacial landscapes that can mitigate the negative consequences of glacier retreat on Nature’s Contributions to People (NCPs). It responds to a strong societal demand on a regional scale and will have a direct impact on management practices and on the socio-economic sustainability and cultural identity of local communities in the Andes.
Glacier retreat & new landscapes
The Central Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile are home to many glaciers, the majority of which will disappear by 2100. In these inhabited mountains, glacial retreat generates socio-economic challenges related to the water supply of downstream socio-ecosystems, the degradation of biodiversity, water contamination by acid drainage of rocks, flash floods by postglacial lakes, or the decline of tourism and the loss of identity and cultural values. But the post-glacial terrains that emerge after the retreat of glaciers also represent opportunities: they are « novel ecosystems », which can provide ecosystem services and help mitigate the socio-economic and ecological crises caused by the acceleration of environmental change.
Mountains with People
The Central high Andes, from Peru to central Chile, have been the cradle of important pre-Hispanic civilizations. Human societies have developed sustainable practices there for thousands of years, which have enabled them to sustain their settlement while avoiding the degradation of ecosystems. These « Nature-based Solutions » (NbS) are at the origin of sustainable socio-ecosystems; they include traditional camelid breeding, the construction of terraces or irrigation and water channelling techniques. However, these NbS have been gradually forgotten and replaced by modern practices, often focused on quick profits, to the detriment of the sustainability of ecosystems. Until now, they have been little, if at all, mobilized on postglacial terrains. Are they still known? Can they be transposed to novel postglacial terrains in order to optimize the development of emerging socio-ecosystems, for the benefit of human societies and biodiversity?
High Andean Socio-Ecosystems
The most emblematic socio-ecosystems of the Central high Andes are the high Andean peatlands (bofedales in Bolivia and Peru, vegas in Chile). Peatlands form plant mats that allow the coexistence of two habitats, one aquatic and the other terrestrial. By producing peat at depths of several metres, they are oases of biodiversity and exceptional water resources and plant biomass for livestock in a dry region. For these reasons, humans have been shaping and sustainably benefiting from the services produced by peatlands for millennia, and in particular since the domestication of camelids more than 7000 years ago. Other key socio-ecosystems of the Central High Andes include the Tropical steppes (Puna) and Southern Andean steppes. In the framework of TierrasNuevas we refer to them as « support ecosystems ».
Regional Scale: three Cordilleras
Uruashraju, Cordillera Blanca, Peru
Glacier 10, Cordillera Real,
Bolivia
Cajón del Maipo, Chile
