San Ignacio de Kiuñalla is a mountain community, between slopes and hills covered with forests and shrub vegetation that harbour a unique biodiversity in the central-southern region and Peru. The water supply for the community and crops depends on these forests, which play an important role in water regulation thanks to their water catchment and seepage.

The community is in the district of Huanipaca, in the province of Abancay, in Apurímac (Peru). It has a population of around 1250 people, with an almost equal number of men and women. Kiuñalla is a highly organised farming community, which during the COVID19 pandemic has demonstrated a spirit of solidarity and collaboration.
The relationship between the community of Kiuñalla and the Andean Forests Programme began when community leaders, together with the NGO CEDES of Apurímac, proposed a series of activities to restore their forests, which had been shrinking in area; but they also realised that their community had less water. The Andean Forests programme welcomed the proposal, which was the starting point for a series of joint and comprehensive activities. These included restoring, protecting and recovery of water sources, the valuation of ecosystem services, generating income through economic activities that reduce pressure on forests, improving environmental governance by improving stakeholder coordination, developing planning and prevention instruments, and improving information about biodiversity and the services forests provided, through monitoring and evaluation of the activities carried out in the forest. The Forestry and Wildlife Service (SERFOR) took up the challenge of accompanying the project, with its professional staff and field activities geared to strengthening the forest restoration capacities of communities and the officials of the regional government of Apurimac.
Kiuñalla: National Restoration Pilot
As the programme came to an end, the Swiss Embassy in Peru and its Development Cooperation Office (SDC), were invited to see the results in Kiuñalla, which SERFOR now recognises as a national pilot of restoration for Andean areas and nationwide.

The visit to Kiuñalla involved a full agenda. The Ambassador of Switzerland in Peru, Mr Markus-Alexander Antonietti, and of the Head of Cooperation (SDC) in Peru and in the Andean region at the Embassy of Switzerland in Lima, Mr Martin Jaggi, wanted to see the areas of intervention, and to hear the main community members’ and local partners’ feelings and testimonies.
On Monday, May 24th, the Swiss visitors started the day with the reception held by Grisólogo Palomino Ñahui, president of the Community San Ignacio de Kiuñalla, Augusto Ramírez, Director of CEDES Apurímac (local partner of the PBA); Luis Zavala Aulla, former community president and current chair of the Forest Management Committee, Sabino Barretón Chacón, a great teacher and connoisseur of local biodiversity; and Vicente Pulido, also a member of the committee. They went on to walk to one of the restoration sectors (plots and restoration nuclei). The weather was fair and the flowers were out after the seasonal rains. Sabino’s knowledge of the plants enlivened the conversation and made the visitors want to learn more.

«Now we have young people who are studying the environment and support us in giving talks and training courses on forest conservation. They have participated in the actions of the PBA» explained Luis Zavala, who also described in detail how the community has been adapting to the changes and taking the lead in the conservation and sustainable use of the forests.
«We are conducting diagnostics and studies. This used to be a stock farm, but now they have fenced in the area and have managed to conserve some 105 hectares», added Augusto Ramírez of CEDES Apurímac.
Afterwards, they returned to the community and met with youth and adult leaders, where the Swiss ambassador in Peru, Markus-Alexander Antonietti, began with the words in Quechua «Allin punchawkashum llapaykispa«, emphasising that Swiss cooperation has been supporting Peru for 57 years, even in the most difficult years of the 80s and 90s. «If there are more forests, water is protected, and this is important because water is life, and without water there is no life”.

He highlighted the fact that «This result belongs to the people, because it depends on the people; and organisation is possible, but it depends on everyone’s will to work together». Martin Jaggi, head of the SDC in the Andean region, then repeated his thanks to the authorities, directors and villagers for their welcome, as well as their commitment to forest conservation. «The Andean Forests Programme is a broad initiative and important for Swiss cooperation in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, and activities in Argentina and Venezuela. Kiuñalla’s action is important for promoting a regional dialogue of local actors in the management of the Andean forests».
The regional director of the Andean Forests Programme, Francisco Medina, thanked the community for their commitment to its development. This commitment can be seen in the results of having an increase in water availability, due to conservation and restoration in these 6 years of having replanted the first native plants in the forest, but also for being recognised as a national pilot and regional experience in restoration, which has led to access to incentive platforms such as REGENERA.
The community’s legal officer, Julio Gutiérrez Pacheco, gave a farewell toast, inviting the ambassador and the head of cooperation to make this not their last visit, but the first of several in which the community will receive their visitors and show them the progress made.
On the way back, the delegation had a brief meeting with the presidents of the rural communities of Karqueque, Celso Ustua and Tacmara and Gregorio Sanchez that wish to replicate the experience of Kiuñalla and start the conservation of their extensive forests.
After the field visit, the delegation spent some time with the Governor of Apurimac, Hector Leon, and the Manager of RRNNyA, Rosendo Echevarria, who expressed appreciation for the support of the Swiss government to Apurimac and its communities, who were committed to strengthening activities for the conservation and restoration of ecosystems in the region with new projects in course. He thanked Swiss cooperation and invited the guests to accompany them on the way.
At the end of the day, the group was left with the feeling that Switzerland and Peru, two mountain countries, share beautiful landscapes, their own geographical limitations, even the red and white colours of their national emblems, but also a unique desire to care for the mountain forests and the people who live in and around them.
The Andean Forests Programme is part of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation’s Global Programme on Climate Change and Environment. In its second phase, it will expand collaboration to promote replication and scale up good practices in the restoration of Andean mountain forests by connecting and combining the existing experience and knowledge in the region and the opportunities for public and private investment in this area. It is implemented by the Helvetas – Condesan consortium.
For further information:
Andean Forests website
Factsheet Andean Forests Programme
Andean Forests Platform
Source: Andean Forests Programme