Recognized by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System, the Ácora district in Peru encompasses 200,000 hectares of a high Andean landscape rich in biodiversity which local communities depend on for their livelihoods. The territory is located next to Lake Titicaca, near the border with Bolivia, where traditional Andean practices and ancestral knowledge persist, but are at risk due to youth migration and lack of documentation.
The Ácora landscape faces significant challenges, including environmental degradation, loss of agrobiodiversity, landscape fragmentation and climate change impacts, such as severe droughts. Agriculture, livestock and fishing are the main occupations of local communities, who have been struggling to manage their resources sustainably. In addition, conflicts over the use of and access to land and water are common. Despite these difficulties, there are many opportunities to strengthen the sustainability and resilience of the Ácora landscape.
In the recently launched fourth phase of the Community Development and Knowledge Management for the Satoyama Initiative Programme (COMDEKS), the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (SGP), implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is supporting the work of the Rural Educational Institute Juli in the Puno region. The first step of this initiative was the establishment of a multi-stakeholder platform to serve as a governance mechanism, bringing together local communities, civil society, government authorities, academia and other partners to reflect on the current challenges and opportunities of the Ácora landscape. This guided the development of the Ácora Landscape Strategy, which aims to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ecosystem services to improve human development through ancestral knowledge, land use planning, innovation, good practices and sustainable production chains, as well as capacity building and organizational strengthening to improve the quality of life of producers and communities.
Multi-stakeholder platform and workshop participants discuss the baseline assessment and COMDEKS strategy for the Ácora landscape.
“Through COMDEKS Phase 4, SGP has strategically expanded this landscape approach in Peru to areas where Indigenous communities conserve agrobiodiversity rooted in their ancestral knowledge,” explains the SGP National Coordinator in Peru, Manuel Manvila. “This is important because Agricultural Heritage Systems like Ácora Andean agriculture play a crucial role in conserving globally significant agrobiodiversity, unique landscapes, Indigenous knowledge, and resilient ecosystems, all of which are essential for providing food, services, and sustainable livelihoods.”
SGP is currently supporting 11 community-based organizations in this region under COMDEKS Phase 4. The main interventions thus far include planting 300 hectares of land with 66 varieties of Andean tubers and grains, as well as promoting native agrobiodiversity conservation and strengthening local production systems with organic fertilizers and climate adaptation measures. Communities have also installed irrigation systems that allowed the expansion of 30 hectares of drought-resilient crops. Additionally, 89 women received agrobiodiversity training to improve gender equity in local conservation initiatives.
Societies in harmony with nature
Launched in 2011 as a flagship programme of the Satoyama Initiative, COMDEKS is a global effort to promote the sustainable use of natural resources in landscapes and seascapes with local communities whose livelihoods and cultural heritage depend on them. It provides small-scale finance through SGP directly to local communities, Indigenous Peoples and civil society to implement locally-led projects that improve livelihoods and well-being, conserve biodiversity, address climate change, build resilience and support local cultures and traditional practices. Launched in 2022, COMDEKS Phase 4 is funded by the Ministry of the Environment Japan and the Keidanren Nature Conservation Council, and is implemented by the SGP.
COMDEKS grantee-partner Rural Educational Institute JuliI presents its greenhouse cultivation experience to representatives from 11 organizations in the landscape