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Latin America & the Caribbean
Peru
National Committee
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the lead agency in establishing the National Committee, entitled the National Working Group on Mountain Ecosystems (GNTEM).
Peru's International Year of Mountains national committee was very active in its preparations for the International Year of Mountains. In April 2001, it organized the 'International Workshop on Mountain Ecosystems: A Vision of the Future'. One of the outcomes of this important workshop was the Cusco Declaration on Sustainable Mountain Development.
GNTEM identified four strategic objectives for the International Year of Mountains:
- to organize the management of ecosystems in the Andean massif.
- to promote the products and services offered in the Andes at international level.
- to raise awareness about the value and importance of conserving mountain ecosystems in Peru and throughout the world.
- to develop sustainable mountain policies that encourage the participation of citizens as well as local and regional governments.
The GNTEM also encouraged the formation of regional groups to liaise with local governments on various management and educational issues.
Composition of GNTEM
The Focal Point was Maria Cecilia Rozas of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The GNTEM consisted of the following representatives:
Government
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The National Environmental Council (CONAM)
The National Institute of Natural Resources
The Executive Secretariat for International Technical Cooperation of the Presidential Council of Ministers
The Vice-Ministry of Industry and Tourism
The National Project of the Management of Hydrographic Basins and the Conservation of Soils (PRONAMACHS)
The Commission for the Promotion of Exports (PROMPEX)
The Commission for the Promotion of Peru (PROMPERU)
The National Science and Technology Council
The National Environmental Fund (FONAM)
UN
FAO
NGOs:
The International Potato Centre
The Consortium for Sustainable Development of Andean Region (CONDESAN)
The Peruvian Foundation for the Conservation of Nature
Conservation International
Research
The 'Bartolomé de las Casas' Andean Regional Studies Centre
The Mountain Institute
The La Molina Agrarian National University
The Peruvian University of Applied Sciences
The Environmental Studies Institute of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru
A Web site was set up at: www.condesan.org/PeruAIM2002/.
Preparatory activities for the International Year of Mountains
In October 2000 the students of the Mountain Ecology course at the Universidad Agraria La Molina designed a web page on the mountains of Peru: www.lamolina.edu.pe/ecomontanas/.
In November 2000, National Public Radio featured two nine-minute segments on a mountain geography research expedition to the Cordillera Carabaya in southern Peru. Researchers from North American universities and eight Peruvian scientists. The broadcasts focused on aspects of environmental change associated with road and mining developments in the Cordillera Carabaya and adjacent sections of the Madre de Dios rain forest.
The 'International Workshop on Mountain Ecosystems: A Vision of the Future' was held in Cusco in April 2001. The goal of the workshop was to exchange experiences in ecotourism and in the design of policies for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in mountainous ecosystems. The Cusco Declaration was one of the principal outcomes of the workshop.
Activities and achievements during the International Year of Mountains
International
The Second International Meeting of Mountain Ecosystems, 'Mountains up to 2020: Water, Life and Production' was held in Huaraz (12-14 June). Indigenous peoples from Peru and Ecuador, as well as representatives of mountain communities from the Himalayas, produced the Huaraz Declaration on Sustainable Development of Mountain Ecosystems.
National
- The Peruvian National Police ran a series of mountain security courses for rescue groups.
- The Huayhuash National Park was created to mark the Year.
- Educational:
Information packs for teaching purposes were distributed in schools. Public awareness campaigns: - A series of postage stamps was issued.
- Posters and brochures were widely distributed and mountain issues received extensive television coverage through much of the year.
- A specific awareness raising campaign was launchedn 'Protect the Native Plants of the Sierra of Ancash'.
- Research:
- A post-graduate course on mountain ecosystems was initiated at the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina.
- The Faculty of Geographical and Environmental Research of the Federico Villareal National University has set up a Research Centre for Water Management as well as a Centre of Studies for the Prevention of Natural Disasters.
Publications:
- " Quién es quién en Montañas en el Perú?" (Who's Who of Peruvian Mountains) (Cusco, 2001)
- El GNTEM al 2002: Hacia una agenda Peruana de Montañas (2003)
Beyond the International Year of Mountains
The most important outcome of the Year, and for sustainable mountain development in Peru, was the formulation of the National Agenda for Mountains to 2020. The National Committee set up for the Year — the GNTEM — is now being decentralized and regional subgroupings representing different mountain zones of Peru are appearing. GNTEM has been involved in the implementation of a Plan of Action on Mountain Biodiversity and the preparation of methodologies for mountain ecosystems in the tropical Andes (at the subregional Andes level). National strategies have been defined in areas such as biodiversity, climate change, desertification, territorial management and forests.
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View a presentation in pdf, 'The Peruvian Mountain Agenda: towards 2020', which was prepared by the Peruvian National Working Group on Mountain Ecosystems (GNTEM) (in English)
View the presentation in pdf, prepared by the Consortium for Sustainable Development of the Andean Region (CONDESAN), on its work and potential contributions to the International Partnership for Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions (in Spanish)
