Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Mountain Development in 

the AndesKathmandu, Nepal, 4 April 2012

International Expert Consultation on Mountains and Climate Change

Regional context

Climate change contextClimate in the Andes• Complex climate system with 

extreme natural gradients in temperature and precipitation

• Dominated by climate systems over Pacific Ocean, Amazon and Caribbean

• Altitudinal gradients (temperature)• N‐S and E‐W gradients 

(precipitation)• Seasonality more pronounced in 

south• Lack of information on current 

climate conditions (e.g. rainfall over the Andes at suitable scales for modelling)

Future predictions• Overall, temperature increase 

rainfall, seasonality uncertain

Regions where >80% of models coincide in direction of change of precipitation

Buytaert & Julián Ramírez‐Villegas in press

Impacts of climate change

• Biomes – vertical shifts (higher biomes only loose, lower ones loose and gain)

GCr Par PnH PnX BMs BMsd Arb PrP

Región A2.1039

Are

aK

m2

010

020

030

0

PérdidaEstableGanancia

Tovar et al. in press PNAS

• Species range shifts in the Andes9457 Plants (shaded)1555 Birds (non-shaded)

Ramírez‐Villegas et al.  Unlimited dispersal No dispersal

Impacts of climate change• Water availability (how much and when)

Local variation – changes in water availability due to changes in rainfall seasonality and regulatory capacity of ecosystems and glaciers

Influence of glaciers: ‐ In the north, paramos most important factor for water regulation throughout year‐ Glaciers (and puna) more important in the Central Andes for maintaining water production during the dry seasons, e.g. maintaining grazing systems

Climate change effects exacerbated (or surpassed?) by land use change, poor governance, inadequate policies, insufficient infrastructure, inefficient use and recycling of water 

Relative change (%) in water availability for combined impacts (temp + rainfall) under climate change (Buytaert et al 2010)

Other drivers of change

• Often difficult to distinguish between effects of different drivers (e.g. changes in land use and climate change in terms of water regulation) Combined effects Integral, flexible

policies

Photo: J. Voss

Other drivers of change in the Andes

Population growth Especially in urban areas

▫ % in urban areas in Andean countries

▫ 2010: 69% to 91%▫ 1990: 55% to 87%

▪ Mountain cities - higher population density

▪ Lowland population (e.g. Lima) on Pacific coast depend on Andes for water

▪ Concentration of demand for water in high Andean cities (e.g. Bogota, Quito, La Paz)

CIESIN, 2011

0.0E+00 2.0E+07 4.0E+07 6.0E+07 8.0E+07

0 ‐ 499

500 ‐ 1499

1500 ‐ 2499

2500 ‐ 3499

>= 3500

Andean countries urban area pop. by altitude

Other drivers of change in the Andes

Change in land cover and use▪ Agricultural expansion (e.g.

influenced by bilateral trade agreements)

▪ Upward shift in agriculture (due to more suitable areas at higher altitudes)

▪ Increase in agricultural area and harvest (agro-chemicals, lowland especially, but water from Andes)

▪ Land degradation – loss of capacity for water regulation 0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

0

50,000,000

100,000,000

150,000,000

200,000,000

250,000,000

300,000,000

350,000,000

1990

1993

1996

1999

2002

2005

2008

Tonn

es/100

0 ha

 of agricultural land

Prod

uctio

n (ton

nes) / Area

 harvested

 (ha)

Production

Area harvested

Fertilizer use

Other drivers of change in the Andes

Change in land cover and use Mining (expansion, continued

reliance of economic systems on extractive industries)

Deforestation, ecosystem degradation▫ South America: largest net loss

of forest 1990-2010 (FAO2010)

▫ Decrease from 38% to 35% of forested area lost 1990 - 2010

Cuesta et al 2009

• Institutional frameworks  and policy ‐ decentralization, participation• e.g. Local government (e.g. environmental authorities, water 

committees), regional policies, citizen’s participation in budgets, decision‐making

• Implementation of International Agreements (e.g. CBD, UNFCCC)• International to local level ‐ strategies, programmes, plans• NBSAPs – to regional level• Adaptation actions (regional, national, local)• Increase in protected areas (12% Andes), other conservation areas 

(designation process leads to awareness, effectiveness?), management instruments

• Regional Integration – Andean Community• e.g. Regional Biodiversity Strategy, Andean Environmental Agenda

Progress in Sustainable Mountain Development 

• Specific Mountain Initiatives• Ramsar Wetland Strategy, Vicuña Convention, Andes Initiative, National 

mountain committees (Mountain Partnership), AMA, CONDESAN• Many events, meetings, conferences on mountain issues and 

development

• Other trends• increased focus on institutionalization of learnings• integration of development and conservation issues• increased focus on climate change and recently disaster management• changes in international cooperation as % of GDP

Progress in Sustainable Mountain Development 

Key policy actions• Protect mountain ecosystems to safeguard water supplies

e.g. Paramos, puna, legal protection, mining no‐go zones, basin‐wide responsibility for strengthening upstream‐down‐stream partnerships

• Climate change adaptation addressed specifically for mountainsregional, national and local policies with flexible approaches (adaptive management) given uncertainty, further develop water management policies

• Innovate agricultural production in mountain areasrecuperate knowledge (especially of native products), work towards food security, protection of biodiversity with responsible agriculture, market access

• Transform current mining methods with responsible mining codespolicy formulation, push for more efficient use of mining products

Key policy actions• Effective communication mechanisms within government

i.e. between government departments (with overlapping jurisdictions); between government levels (local and national)

• Use regional cooperation mechanisms to share and replicate experiencese.g. where decentralization and increased citizens’ participation has been beneficial to sustainable mountain development

• Improve coordination/communication to ensure knowledge generated is applied to SMDe.g. between state universities in mountain areas, research NGOs, government bodies

• Implement decision support systems at local and regional levelse.g. for water management and climate change adaptation

Creatingjoint solutions

from our diversityusing our knowledge

in harmony with the environment

condesan@condesan.orghttp://www.condesan.org

Thank you