Lake Junín or Chinchaycocha Wetlands Conservation
Peru (South America)
Lake Junín ecosystem is a site of biodiversity, cultural and socio-economic local, national and regional significance. We are supporting our local partner ECOAN to protect the endangered biodiversity, via sustainable management of natural resources, revalorization of ancestral practices, community and government engagement, and women leadership empowerment.
United for Biodiversity, Ancestral Wisdom, and Women
Context
Lake Junín or Chinchaycocha, located in the Andean highlands, is the second largest lake in Peru, and is the heart of the Junín National Reserve. The ecosystem is a key biodiversity area, with a wide variety of birds, amphibians, fish, mammals and flora. Critically, some endemic species only found here, such as the birds Junín Grebe and Junín Rail, and the Lake Junín Frog, are the risk of extinction. The lake is a key water reservoir for the country, supplying the water needs for consumption and agriculture of many communities downstream. The characteristic peatlands in this area, are a major carbon store. This ecosystem has been particularly harmed by polluting mining activities, mismanagement of water leading to droughts and floods, illegal and unsustainable peat extraction leading to soil damage and flora degradation, climate change, and cattle overgrazing. Lake Junín Reserve health is of great significance for the local communities, the country and the region.
Impact
The local community’s cultural development, over the span of hundreds of years, is tightly linked to the territory and the ecosystem’s services. As a few examples, their main economic activity is bovine cattle farming, which relies on healthy and abundant grass; water management and storage is critical to withstand the dry seasons; peat is the main source of energy for household heating and cooking. Successful interventions to protect and restore the ecosystem, need the integral and permanent community involvement and wisdom. They are key actors from the diagnosis to the activities ideation, execution and supervision. The external contribution is oriented towards mitigating the cumulative effect of negative impacts, and making already sustainable ancestral practices of resource management, even more sustainable given the current context. For example, scaling ancestral water sowing techniques based on natural infrastructures, cattle grazing rotation, introducing less harming peat extraction techniques, and peat sowing to avoid soil and flora degradation.
Partnership
Our local partner ECOAN has been working together with the local communities, the government and other conservationist NGOs like Wetlands International, to protect and restore this ecosystem of biodiversity, cultural, and socio-economic significance. Particular to this area, women have taken up leadership roles, as a result of men migrating for economic reasons. In the context of a patriarchal society, this has been both an opportunity and a challenge for the women, who often have courage and determination but lack in confidence and capacitation. Our contribution is to support local women leaders to identify and implement additional activities within the larger framework already in place. This is an opportunity for us to care for Pachamama, Mother Earth, and contribute to a project of major systemic impact, while honoring and acknowledging ancestral traditions.