Andean Forests preparing its second phase with its partners in Peru, Ecuador and Colombia
The regional initiative began in 2014 with the objective of strengthening the conservation of montane forests and helping the Andean population living in and around Andean forests to reduce their vulnerability to climate change.
Over the past 40 years, Swiss cooperation, through its Global Programme on Climate Change and the Environment, has encouraged various projects for conserving and developing the sustainable use of montane forests in the Andes. These eco-systems have not received the attention they need, considering their importance and key role in the fight against climate change.
The Bosques Andinos programme decided to work on the guidelines of this new stage together with its partners in each of the areas in which it was implemented: Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. It scheduled three workshops for producing inputs, the first in the city of Lima on 20 February, the second in Ecuador on 25 February and the third in Colombia on 27 February.
In its second phase, Bosques Andinos will focus on consolidating and scaling up the work of the first phase in Apurímac (Peru), Pinchincha (Ecuador) and Antioquia (Colombia), to encourage greater use of practices and projects for the sustainable management of these ecosystems and for scaling them up, capitalizing on lessons learned, strengthening new forms of cooperation (South-South); and putting the theme of montane forests on the public agenda, in order to encourage other entities to join and to promote alliances between them in cooperation for montane forests.
PeruThis first workshop aimed to be an opportunity for reflection and to share progress, outcomes and lessons learned in the first phase of Bosques Andinos, while preparing the proposal guidelines for the second phase, using the contributions of specialists, officials and representatives of civil society, government, international cooperation and academia such as Swiss Cooperation (SDC), SERFOR, Ministry of the Environment, INAIGEM, Sunass, Inkamoss, Naturaleza y Cultura, ICRAF – CIFOR, Americas Fund and UNALM, who work on forest issue and attended this first meeting.)
During the meeting, the participants identified and established priorities and validated possible action, approaches and strategic partners for Andean forest management which strengthen the various national strategies for the sustainable management of Andean forest landscapes in a context of climate change. (see more)
EcuadorAlbert Bokkestijn, Bosques Andinos director, gave a brief presentation of the programme’s achievements at the regional level in the three programme components: knowledge management, sustainable practices and advocacy. In turn, Manuel Peralvo discussed in greater depth the results related of implementation specifically in Ecuador, from the working approaches to the reality of the Pichincha site, to share the results of the activities and the important milestones achieved. Finally, he reported the challenges and opportunities identified for replication and scaling up in future work.
In the second block, participants prioritized and validated possible approaches, actions and strategic partners that would lead to the consolidation, replication and scaling up of the best practices and knowledge management fostered in the first phase of the programme in Ecuador. Through the exercise they identified national-level initiatives and tools for the sustainable management of Andean forest landscapes in a context of climate change. (see more)
ColombiaAna María Benavides, Research Director of the Botanical Garden of Medellin, presented the results of the activities in Antioquia. She highlighted the scaling up that has taken place with BanCO2 Metropolitano of the Aburrá Valley, which increased the resources contributed to the programme by 700 per cent and which is now compensating 167 peasant families for conserving the forests. She also presented the results of the monitoring and restoration carried out in the San Nicolás Valley and in the Aburrá Valley, and the scope of the various activities of the Antioquia Forest Observatory. (see more)
 |
| Lima Workshop |
 |
| Quito Workshop |
 |
| Bogota Workshop |
The Andean Forest Programme is operating in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Argentina and Chile, with public and private strategic partners and allies in each of these countries. It is part of the Swiss Cooperation’s Global Climate Change and Environment Programme. It combines specialist knowledge, practical relevance and establishes regional and international guidelines on the subject, contributing to and building on the existing and successful experiences of specialists in the international agendas on forests and climate change.
Links of interest:
Bosques Andinos, project information, Swiss Embassy, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
Web Andean Forest Programme
Video It’s time for the Andean Forests
