The study and protection of culture is vitally important for understanding Lake Titicaca better and for finding strategies to strengthen conservation efforts in the basin currently shared by Bolivia and Peru.

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Lake Titicaca lies at an altitude of more than 3800 metres, and is one of the most emblematic landscapes of the American continent. It is also one of the main bodies of fresh water on the planet and the cradle and inspiration of many peoples who live around it and for whom it has taken on a sacred meaning. The ecological and cultural richness of Titicaca makes it a unique heritage for the region that tells the story of the close relationship between humans and ecosystems. 

Tales from the past were recovered through a joint effort of the IUCN Regional Office for South America (through the BRIDGE project) and the NGO Agua Sustentable in its work with the Lake Titicaca Women Leaders’ Network, called “Women United in Defence of Water”.

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The IUCN for South America and SDC are grateful to the women leaders, writers and anthropologists for their generous contribution to this book.  New stories about how the lake inspires young people of today were also collected through a story competition. By including the new stories written by young Bolivians and Peruvians, SDC highlights its commitment to acknowledge their voices and to work with them to raise awareness about the importance of this heritage.

SDC aims to give more importance to culture, which is sometimes forgotten in environmental conservation and cooperation projects. You can download the book here link. It is in Spanish and Aymara.

Source: International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Original article in English

About BRIDGE

Bridge is a global initiative that builds good governance in transboundary watersheds in three regions of the world: Latin America, Asia and Africa, and is implemented by the IUCN Water Programme and Environmental Law Centre and its regional offices. In South America, the project carries out activities in the nine transboundary basins between Ecuador and Peru, and in the Lake Titicaca basin between Bolivia and Peru.

The project aims to build water governance capacities through learning, demonstration, leadership, and consensus-building, in particular in transboundary river basins.

For further information:
Website BRIDGE Project
Fact sheet BRIDGE Project
Brochure BRIDGE Project