Constantino Aucca is the man behind the project! His NGO - Association for Andean Ecosystems (ECOAN) - which he set up already in 2001. Its goal is to replant the lost Andes' Polylepis forests to reinstate the land's natural infrastructure with the long-term aim of ensuring steady water supply and water security for the communities within the water catchment areas and further downstream..
Trees for water
Before the Spanish conquest of Peru, 400 years ago, the Incas lived in harmony with their environment. The past few centuries have seen the area almost completely deforested for firewood collection and grazing, with no effort to replenish the devastated woodlands. Now only 1-5% of the forests that once stood here, remain. Today's Incan population wishes to restore the balance and give back what the populations, over the centuries, have taken from nature.
During "Quena Raymi", a very special festival held once a year in the Peruvian Andes, Deutsche Welle documented the tree-planting ceremony attended by over 200 women, men, and children from various villages, in a short film.
Constantino Aucca explained the reason for the ambitious Accion Andina tree planting initiative:
If there's no vegetation or trees, the water will flow straight from the mountain down into the valley, and cause landslides, before it continues on to the sea. The new trees we are planting will absorb the moisture that nature gives to us in the form of mist and rain. The trees are the only way we have of storing the water.
Water means life!
The tropical glaciers are the most important source of water in the Andes. But global warming is causing them to melt away at a growing pace.
Entire swathes of mountain terrain used to be covered with Polylepis trees - a species only found in South America. It's highly resilient and can withstand extreme weather conditions typically occurring at up to 5.000 meters height
The goal of the Accion Andinas initiative is to create more woodlands which help to increase the retention of water, aid its slow release downstream and increase the overall volume of water circulating within the water cycle. The hope is that eventually, this will stop the glaciers' retreat, and even reverse it.
When it rains, trees ensure that the water does not simply run off the land or evaporate with the intense wind and heat. The presence of trees allow water to be absorbed and stored in the tree roots, and by the moss grows around the trees' roots.
The slower the water makes its way down from the mountains, the longer it remains available to the villages in the valley all year round. The availability of water is critical for local agricultural production - and life!
Be part of the movement. Support restoring of high Andes woodlands: