Natural Resources Monitoring in the Andean Cordillera

Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Andean EcoregionMarch, 2013

Andean Context

Important drivers in Andes Urbanization: drastic increase in urban population, rural population more or less stable. Causes geographical concentration of water demand

Source: Presentation “Water Management and Climate Change”, by Axel Dourojeanni, Lima 2010.

Source: Estrategia Andina para GIRH, CAN 2010.

Free trade agreements boost agroindustry for export, but large differences between countries

Land degradation: loss of regulation capacity in mountain catchments

Source: Wouter Buytaert, 2010.

Important drivers in Andes (3)

Climate change: vertical altitudinal moves certain, everything else very uncertain

Monitoring Initiatives

Andean Monitoring 22 sites: Venezuela to Argentina

Covering more than 30 grades latitude (11N to 29S)

More of 7000 km with social and environmental gradients

Producing information to facilitate analysis from the local (micro) to the regional(macro)

2 integral sites

* Tiquipaya (Cochabamba,Bolivia)

* Pichincha - Lloa/Nono (Quito,Ecuador).

Our activities mobilize more than 100 researchers from natural and social science; and articulate more than 60 organizations all over the Andes, with local and national governments and regional entities (Andean Community)

• Biodiversity monitoring

• Carbon Monitoring

• Hydrological monitoring

• Land use and cover change monitoring

• Livelihoods monitoring

We are promoting new cooperation agreements between governmental programs and regional/national research centers

We are experimenting new ways to make the information available for all interested parties: CHMs, Geoportals:

http://paramo.cc.ic.ac.uk/espa/

www.condesan.org/gloria

We are generating different protocols for the monitoring activities:•Andean Forest monitoring: biodiversity, productivity: carbon•Monitoring Carbon in different gradients•Hydrological Monitoring in several subcatchments based on a set of minimal indicators.•Livelihood: Human vulnerability

CONDESAN is actively promoting the policy dialogue,knowledge exchange and the capacity building of all parties involved in the monitoring activities:•Policy dialogues•Producing papers•Regional and national technical workshops•Site visits

Final remarks

• Monitoring is not just an academic exercise. We do it to take decisions on how better manage our natural resources.

• Monitoring is a long term process that require to start delivering results very quickly. It is the only way to show the relevance and to receive continual political support and to get recognition from all stakeholders.

Final remarks

• Monitoring cannot be done in isolation, it require a collaborative effort between several stakeholders. To develop collaborative mechanisms between civil society, independent research centers and governmental agencies require a dedicated and well planned effort. It is essential to jointly identify minimum methodological agreements as a pre requisite to complement, and to ensure greater sustainability of monitoring systems.

Final remarks

• Collecting data is just the beginning. Pay more serious attention on how to deliver and use it. Collecting data with the agreed protocols is just the beginning of a long process. We need to pay even more attention to how to deliver the data collected to the different stakeholders needing it and how the can better use it to manage the natural resources.

Final remarks

• Trust not come form the solid high-tech used but by a verifiable in-field results. There is no trust in a monitoring system that not have a verifiable in-field component. We need to go beyond the technology,the software applications and the models behind and be in the field with the people who is requiring the information.

Final remarks

Construyendo Construyendo soluciones soluciones juntosjuntos, ,

desde nuestra desde nuestra diversidaddiversidad, ,

desde nuestro desde nuestro sabersaber, , en armonía con el en armonía con el ambienteambiente..

Miguel.saravia@condesan.orghttp://www.condesan.org http://www.infoandina.org

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