An ancient Incan tradition helps to protect Peru's water resources and a charismatic mammal
As a bitter cold dawn rises over the grassy plateau of Moyobamba in the Peruvian Andes, the frosty air is heavy with excitement. A couple of hundred villagers from nearby Tanta have gathered on the rocky pastures, impatient to see the revival of chaccu, an ancient tradition of coralling wild, camel-like vicuñas that has been brought back from the edge of oblivion to help villagers adapt to a changing climate.
Perched on the central highlands of Lima, at 4,300 meters above sea level, Tanta is a community of around 400 people who earn their livelihoods from herding livestock on natural highland pastures. Looking at the harsh landscape, it is hard to imagine that millions of people and a bustling metropolis depend on this remote place.
Tanta lies in a watershed that gives rise to the Cañete, Pachacayo and Mantaro rivers, which are the main freshwater source for Peru's capital Lima whose 10 million or so inhabitants make it the second largest desert city in the world. These waterways are nourished by rainfall and the melting of glaciers, both of which have been seriously affected by climate change, threatening Lima and neighbouring provinces.
In May this year, countries will meet in Nairobi for UNEA 2 – the world's de facto "Parliament for the Environment" – to discuss how countries can adapt to climate change to protect their development gains and ensure they continue to grow. Ecosystems-based adaptation is crucial to building natural barriers against the worst impacts of climate change to ensure progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP), working with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is helping Peru to implement Ecosystems‑based Adaptation (EbA) policies in the Nor Yauyos-Cochas Landscape Reserve to ensure that the water generated there keeps flowing even in a warmer climate.
One of the solutions to improving water retention of the Reserve's highland ecosystems came from an unexpected source – the vicuñas.
The highland grasslands of Moyobamba – natural home of these adorable camelids – were being invaded by domestic livestock, which damaged topsoil. “Such activity produced soil erosion, exacerbated by changes in rainfall, and impeded the capture and penetration of water, causing runoff and erosion,” recounts Rommel Segura, a Tanta-based expert in pastureland and livestock, and an agronomist.
Many experts predict that if the current situation were to continue, by 2030 Tanta and the coastal areas of Lima and Cañete would suffer unprecedented water stress. Segura continues: “Similarly, the unbridled coexistence of vicuñas with domestic livestock has resulted in the spread of parasitic diseases, especially scabies in alpacas and llamas.”
Enter chaccu, a nearly-forgotten tradition dating back to the Incas of herding wild vicuñas and enclosing them in a corral, usually with the purpose of shearing their wool. This ancient method of obtaining precious animal fibre makes sustainable use of natural resources and does not involve killing animals.
Today the chaccu organizers are not after the wool. As the animals gallop into the 3,600-metre net to escape from a line of villagers clutching colourful flags who chase the animals towards the enclosure, veterinarians are preparing medicines and anti-parasitic drugs for the camelids to protect them from scabies.
“Chaccu, from an animal health perspective, is carried out in the context of a larger strategy of EbA measures: livestock management and the return of domestic species to communal farms, working effectively with Andean highland pastures and water resources, and strengthening the management of vicuñas and the ecosystem,” explains Woodro Andia, field coordinator of the Ecosystems-based Adaptation Mountain project.
Andia stresses that “all decisions and proposals for the project and the National Service for State-Protected Natural Areas (SERNANP), a strategic partner in this context, are not implemented without the express consent of people of Tanta.”
The chaccu is highly compatible with EbA measures because it does not involve a permanent “gray infrastructure” (traditional water management systems) and aims to strengthen the conservation of the local ecosystem, flora and fauna.
The first chaccu to play out in Tanta in years, ends in success. More than 170 vicuñas have been captured and injected with the anti-parasitic drugs.
Woodro Andia says with a smile: “The entire municipality, community leaders, SERNANP, project leaders, the upper and lower schools, women´s groups and grassroots organizations, all played their part.”
The mayor of Tanta, Gloria Reyes, is also content. “We took successful steps to tackle scabies and its spread, and promoted the potential role of vicuñas as a way to generate income from their fibre, which is highly valued in the international market," she says.
"The livestock system should be one of our central concerns; and our task now is to empower the people of Tanta, so that they can manage their pasturelands and communal farms. By doing this, we will go a long way in avoiding the impact of climate change, soil erosion, and deregulation of our water resources.”
When representatives of governments, civil society and business meet at the second UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi in May to discuss ways of helping countries develop in a changing climate, Ecosystems-based Adaptation emerges as one of the best options of joining efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Tapping into indigenous knowledge and traditions, such as chaccu will be crucial to ensure the success of this approach.
About UNEA
In May, hundreds of key decision makers, businesses and representatives of intergovernmental organizations and civil society will gather in Nairobi for UNEA-2 at the United Nations Environment Programme headquarters in Nairobi.
The assembly will be one of the first major meetings since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Agreement. The resolutions passed at UNEA-2 will set the stage for early action on implementing the 2030 Agenda, and drive the world towards a better, more just future.
About the Mountain Ecosystems-based Adaptation Program
The Mountain Ecosystems-based Adaptation program (EbA) is a collaborative initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) (through its implementing partner, the Mountain Institute (MI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Public Works and Nuclear Safety of the German Government (BMUB). In Peru, the programme is run by the Ministry of Environment of Peru (MINAM) and is implemented in the Nor Yauyos-Cochas Landscape Reserve (RPNYC), with support from the National Service for Protected Natural Areas (SERNANP).
