Occupy Goes Global!
Lima
In 2020 OCC! expanded its scope and encouraged students to explore local initiatives in their city, resulting in entries from various locations. Here below you find the entries from Lima
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List of experiences: TOTAL RESULTS 3
Recovering a natural habitat in Lima: Citizen participation in the Pantanos de Villa Wetlands
By Anna Torres Mallma
Where is this city-initiated initiative implemented? Who are the promoters? Who are the beneficiaries?
Pantanos de Villa Wetlands is located in Los Cedros de Villa neighborhood in the Chorrillos district, in Lima, Perú.
The promoting agent of this initiative is the Municipal Authority of the Pantanos de Villa – Prohvilla. It is a decentralized public office of the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima, with legal status and administrative, economic, and technical autonomy, in charge of the management and administration of the Pantanos de Villa wetlands.
The beneficiaries are the animal species (aquatic birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and small mammals) and aquatic plants (totora and junco) of the Pantanos de Villa. Other beneficiaries are the residential neighborhoods located closer to the wetlands.
Image to the left; Panoramic view of the Pantanos de Villa wetlands by the author. Image to the right: Current extension of the Pantanos de Villa wetlands by the author
How does this initiative engage with climate? Does it tackle mitigation, adaptation, both, or other dimensions of climate change?
The cleaning campaign of solid waste that takes place in the water canals that feed the lakes of the Pantanos de Villa wetlands is crucial in the adaptation of climate change. The main goal is to recollect the disposal of construction and demolition waste; and to recycle solid waste located in the borders of the canals. These walks around the canals allow Prohvilla staff and the volunteers to monitor the quantity of garbage around the wetlands, to guard water quality, and to teach good practices in the neighbors routines that benefit the preservation of the wetlands. It is a way of restoring fragile coastal ecosystems and thus maintaining the functionality of the landscape and reducing risks from the effects of climate change using community participation through practical solutions.
What are the main objectives? What are the main values?
The general objective of Prohvilla is to initiate “a knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) process” so that citizens, companies, and institutions complete actions in favor of the conservation and rational use of the Pantanos de Villa wetlands. For this, they focus on “executing projects and campaigns aimed at various sectors of society to increase awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the ecosystem services offered by the wetlands (CECoP: Objective 6) and promoting responsible citizen participation in the Management of Los Pantanos de Villa. (CECoP: Objective 05)”. According to the annual report published in 2019 by Prohvilla, the ecosystems services identified are: “(i) Of supply or provision, are the fibers such as the junco and the totora, as well as some species that are being evaluated for their value nutritional. (ii) Regulation, there is air regulation, water regulation, bioremediation, tsunami barrier, and temperature regulation. (iii) Supportive or support, it becomes an important genetic storage center for the conservation of its biodiversity, being a habitat of 210 species of birds between migratory and resident, 47 species of flora, 13 species of fish, 08 mammals, 53 from aquatic insects and 55 from arachnid species. Finally, (iv) Of culture, which allows you to enjoy the scenic beauty, as a means of healing, a sense of identity and belonging, source of healing, education and for ecotourism”.
In this sense, campaigns/projects are focused on the residents of the area. The aims are: (1) to contribute to the conservation and care of the bodies of water that feed the Pantanos de Villa wetlands (divided into four sectors: Horticultores, Ganaderos, Vista Alegre, and Villa Baja); (2) to raise awareness of social actors in the immediate environment about the care of bodies of water and support their vigilance by promoting a good environmental practices (care of canals, knowledge of biodiversity and environmental threats and regulations); (3) and reduce the negative impacts on the water bodies of the Pantanos de Villa wetlands with to strengthen its identity with the natural space such as the canals, the beach/nesting area, etc.). The call for volunteers to participate in the cleaning campaigns value the service of the participants and their collaboration with tasks of collecting and sorting waste. Finally, their participation is recognized and documented with a certificate signed from Prohvilla.
What is the timeline?
The cleaning campaigns are part of the Communication, Education, Awareness and Participation Program of the Pantanos de Villa Municipal Authority (CECoP PROHVILLA) and are valid for five years, so the proposed period is from 2020 to 2024. The project is executed leaving a month between calls.
Are there already visible effects?
The cleaning projects allow us to observe two sides of a coin simultaneously. A positive effect is this: thanks to the training sessions before the cleaning tasks, the volunteers become more aware of the preservation of these canals. The residents involved have deeper knowledge about what type of waste affects the canals. Another positive effect is that it fosters a sense of belonging to the place at the individual and community levels. Moreover, these activities contribute to the formation of the resident’s identity. Although these areas of intervention are considered boundaries between neighborhoods, it allows volunteers to feel part of a community far beyond their district boundaries. In this direction, the cleaning tasks of these areas allow for improving the urban image and the quality of life, inviting the residents involved to create policies of care towards public spaces such as the streets or pedestrian passages that border the canals.
On the other side of the coin, we find that, by taking out the canals of waste, unscrupulous people who are not residents have more free spaces to deposit more garbage; for example, residents claim that taxi units park nearby and leave any kind of garbage. Moreover, some trucks move construction waste and find in these areas the right place to leave their “cargo” illegally. Surveillance systems must be even more rigorous to prevent this type of criminal action against environmental health.
Image 3: View of the Premio Real canal by the author
Who are the actors involved? What are their backgrounds?
The first call is for the residents who live in the Special Regulation Zone (nearby areas) that involves neighbors from the districts of Villa El Salvador, San Juan de Miraflores, Santiago de Surco, and Chorrillos. Next, educational institutions and companies which are closer to the Pantanos de Villa wetlands are also invited to participate. Other groups of participants are members of the Peruvian army and public cleaning staff from the municipalities involved. Prohvilla employees (from the director to the tour agents) participate in this campaign, showing an example of commitment to ecology and the environment. All ages are invited. Thanks to social platforms, the call is extended to any citizen who wants to collaborate with the project. There is a group on the Facebook Platform where they receive all the information to participate. The last call involved approximately two hundred sixty participants.
Which limits (institutional, physical, social, etc.) does it encounter?
Cleaning projects cannot be extended to other neighboring areas, such as those bordering the beach. For instance, every time dead birds appear on the beach adjacent to the wetlands, Prohvilla recommends avoiding this area for visitor circulation, since the cause of death of these animals is unknown. However, the responsible institution must react immediately to the removal of the birds’ bodies, so residents are able to intervene in this area and clean it.
One aspect that draws attention is that, during the collection of waste from the canals in the four sectors, the volunteers have come to find scattered human remains, which causes fear among the volunteers and indicates a high level of insecurity in which they are located: residents and the Pantanos wetlands are vulnerable too. Another limitation is that these areas do not have public lighting, so it is difficult to extend the shift during the day. For this reason, the shift starts at 8 am.
Image 4: Volunteers working during their morning shifts by the author.
Are any shortcomings or critical points visible? What other problematic issues can arise from its implementation?
What is critical is the amount of waste that is removed from the intervention areas. The tonnage of waste does not disappear. In the last project completed on May 27th, 2023, 2556.51 kg were collected between general waste, non-usable waste, and wet and dry undergrowth. This scenario shows that some sectors are in a more critical situation than others, as was the case of the Ganaderos sector. If it weren’t for these cleanup campaigns, these areas would be considered big dumpsters for both residents, and wetlands. In these vulnerable areas, more rigorous surveillance systems are required to penalize polluting actors on behalf of Prohvilla, with the support of neighboring companies and/or neighborhood associations. A 24-hour surveillance station with cameras will be useful, but it is understood it requires a considerable budget.
The canal area does not have an infrastructure that favors improving the state of protection and facilitating cleaning and maintenance tasks. For example, having lintels prevent flooding due to obstruction of waste or curbs to control invasive vegetation and facilitate gardening work, and low retaining walls that prevent landslides into the canals. Once again, it is understood that these interventions correspond to the implementation of public ornament projects executed by the district municipalities that do not take an initiative.
The calls for campaigns are not often because it does not attract many volunteers. Prohvilla needs more time to call for more volunteers to gather again. The last call brought together 260 volunteers to cover the four sectors. The use of machinery would be helpful for these tasks but the cost is not considered in the current budget of Prohvilla.
These routines of maintenance of the canals will recover the ecosystem services of the Pantanos de Villa and preserve the connection with the natural landscape in a chaotic urban environment.
How would it be potentially replicable in other settings?
The citizen participation through cleaning tasks can be applied in other vulnerable natural areas where the problem of contamination by waste is alarming. Despite having the streets cleaned by the municipalities, it is important to identify the most critical areas within the natural reserves (which are generally the borders/edges) and consider organizing cleaning brigades under legal and regulatory protection in their functions.
The example of the volunteers and their determination to do these tasks in the best way show that it is possible to invite citizens who care about natural areas collectively, seeking funds for the execution of future projects that complement cleanup campaigns, such as: “signposting, revegetation, monitoring and surveillance, and dissemination of awareness” proposed by Prohvilla.
Is this initiative conducive to broader changes (law, institutional arrangements, long-term sustainability or community preparedness, etc.)?
If we do not know the value of urban ecosystems for the city, we cannot demand to care for them. That is why awareness about the borders and areas adjacent to natural areas is the first step for the resident to connect with this space full of wildlife. Second, the current limitations reflect the fact that in order to succeed the municipalities involved in the project need specific regulations that can control the social dynamics on the edges of the Pantanos de Villa wetlands. Two fields in which new regulations should be implemented are the regularization of land use and the circulation of public and heavy transport. As happened in the past when the wetlands lost 80% of their surface (from 1,530 hectares to 263.7 hectares) due to “taking lightly” the impact of land uses that did not consider the life of other species in the wetlands.
By prioritizing its conservation, citizens are invited to eradicate all practices of speciesism that prevent us from respecting and valuing the lives of other species. Therefore, we must consider these other non-human lives (aquatic birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, small mammals, and aquatic plants) also deserve a place to live in balance with human society and that in the end, this coexistence allows the wetlands to be one more “living” example for the city. As long as this cleaning campaign continues, Prohvilla will be raising awareness and setting an example to future generations of the care and value of other lives that also matter to the planet. Thanks for teaching us how to take care of our communal home.
Image 5: Aquatic birds resting in the lake Marvilla wetlands by the author
References
Almanza, F. (2021). a naturaleza a merced del progreso: los Pantanos de Villa y las amenaza que representa la urbanización en el área protegida [Review of a naturaleza a merced del progreso: los Pantanos de Villa y las amenaza que representa la urbanización en el área protegida]. Conexión Ambienta; https://conexionambiental.pe/la-naturaleza-a-merced-del-progreso-los-pantanos-de-villa-y-las-amenaza-que-representa-la-urbanizacion-en-el-area-protegida/
Castañeda Lossio, L. (2005, September 22). Ordenanza N° 838 [Review of Ordenanza N° 838]. http://pantanosdevilla.pe/admin/archivospdf/ordenanza%20838.pdf
Córdova Rocca, M. T. (2023, July 3). Participación ciudadana (S. Torres Mallma & A. Torres Mallma, Interviewers) [Review of Participación ciudadana].
via zoom
Peruano, E. (n.d.). VIDA. PANTANOS DE VILLA, ÚLTIMA RESERVA DE LIMA Paraíso ecológico. https://old.sernanp.gob.pe/sernanp/archivos/imagenes/2014/notas/enero/especial%20pantanos%20de%20villa.pdf
Prohvilla. (2019). Memorial Anual. https://pantanosdevilla.pe/transparencia/Memorias/PROHVILLA-Memoria-anual-2019.pdf
(2022, August). Plan de Comunicación, Educación, Concienciación y Participación pública, de la Autoridad Municipal de los Pantanos de Villa (CECoP) [Review of Plan de Comunicación, Educación, Concienciación y Participación pública, de la Autoridad Municipal de los Pantanos de Villa ]. http://pantanosdevilla.pe/admin/archivospdf/documentos_gestion/Plan-Comunicacion-Educacion-concienciacion-Participacion-2020-2024.pdf
Sovero Delgado, C. (2019, November 9). Pantanos de Villa: un refugio verde amenazado por toneladas de basura [Review of Pantanos de Villa: un refugio verde amenazado por toneladas de basura]. El Comercio. https://elcomercio.pe/lima/sucesos/pantanos-de-villa-un-refugio-verde-amenazado-por-toneladas-de-basura-noticia/
Cicasos Hills Conservation
Franz Rothschild.
The Lima hills (Lomas de Lima), in the Peruvian capital, is one of the most extended ecosystems of the city. It consists of 19 hill sites in 19 of the 52 districts of the city, occupying between 7% and up to 24% of the territory every winter, when El Niño event occurs (MLM, 2014). When that happens, all sites are connected by wide stripes of vegetation that turn a grey and brown city into a green space that contain a vast natural and cultural heritage: This ecosystem shelters a rich biodiversity of plants and animals, supplies the city with several ecosystem services such as soil retention that stops it from land sliding on the sides that is so risky for the closest inhabitants, tourism supports the local economic development, and strengths the weak limeñan identity linked to the appearance of the Amancaes flower greatly mentioned in several cultural traditions. Other services provided are related to pollination, supply of atmospheric water, air cleaning food supply (LEL, 2014; MLM, 2014; PNUD, 2018). The geographical distribution of the hills can be seen on Figure 1 below.
Fig. 1. Lima hills. At the bottom, Cicazos hills in San Bartolo (source: periferia.pe).
The hills are open spaces and represent an opportunity to rethink their relationships with a desertic city that has a differentiated district access to green areas based on economic aspects (Mamani & Nieuwland, 2017; MLM, 2014), and with the potential to overcome some environmental challenges related to biodiversity, water access, and climate change. Despite their importance, the informal urban growth, that can go up even to a 90% as consequence for the lack of public policy in urban development and of efficient programs for social housing, has already degraded the soil and affected the ecosystems services. This lack for proper urban planning has increased the vulnerability for many people that cannot access to own a property, providing an opportunity to illegal land Traficant that have links to public authorities. The hills have been systematically decreasing in a context in which urban pressures on them are growing, not only because of urban occupation, but also for their use as landfill and for exploitation through construction aggregates mining (Mamani & Nieuwland, 2017).
Since 2011, after pressure exercised by local communities surrounding the hills usually led by environmentalists (Venegoni, n.d.), Public sector has initiated an action plan to face the different challenges on the hills through the Lima Hills program (Programa Lomas de Lima) with 4 action lines: The first one was the creation of the Área de Conservación Regional Sistema de Lomas de Lima (Lima Hills System Regional Conservation Area) that gave official recognition to the most of the sites as fragile ecosystems supported by the legal frame of two municipal ordinances (environmental policy N°1628-2012-MML and environmental agenda N° 1640-2012-MML) boosting different municipal policy in conservation issues to protect and preserve vulnerable ecological units through their controlled access and maintenance, characterization/ profile studies for further territorial organization. The other three actions lines are the development of eco-touristic circuits for sustainable economic growth of local inhabitants, ecosystem restauration with native species, and the construction of hill-parcs as open spaces for integrating the human activities within the natural environment (MLM, 2014; LEL, 2014).
As mentioned, several local organizations and enterprises have risen up to protect them all. By instance, the “Frente de Defensa Ecológica del Valle de Lurín – Fredecol” (Lurín Valley Ecological Defense Front) has included the Cicasos Hills as part of the group of vulnerable ecosystems they try to protect. The Cicasos hills are located in the southern district of San Bartolo, about forty-five minutes outside the metropolitan area of Lima. I interviewed Fredecol´s current president Jaime Chipana, an all-time environmentalist neighbor of the Lurin district, who gave us an overall view on the association´s organization, objectives, successes and challenges
Fredecol was formed towards the end of 2008 to fight against the pollution of the Lurin river by Lima’s drinking water and sewerage service (Sedapal) and several production plants located along the river, affecting the water table of the locality. It started with only 6 neighbors who invited Jaime to support them with his experience, and now it assembles around 300 people working on it ah-honorem and as required depending on the urgency of the several project they are involved in. Many specialists, including several renowned professionals in biology, environmental sciences, geography, history and law have made themselves available to cooperate when needed with the locals in order to protect the “small-south” (sur chico) of Lima. Some politicians are also included, required to be able to connect the organization with the political power and have higher chances to promote their cause and obtain results.
In the beginning, Jaime was invited due to its participation as civil representative in the Lurín district municipality for the local projects participative budget control, in charge of the project’s inspection and communication to the local inhabitants. As a result of their first actions, Fredecol obtained a municipal ordinance forbidding industrial activity in the “trapecio de Lurín” area, with the intention to benefit the protection of vulnerable areas in the vicinity. Protection was directed to the ecosystems and the living conditions of the inhabitants affected by the production plants established there. A few years after the first meetings and the convoking neighbors, Jaime became the participative budget representative at the wider “departamento” level, including all the Lima “distritos”.
In 2014, the Lima Cement Company presented a project to expand its operation to the El Manzano hills. Cementos Lima was already operating in Pachacamac, another district that shared boundaries with the northern part of Lurin, where they completely degraded the soil of the Pucará hills after non-metalurgic mining activities to exploit a high-quality clay. Their next objective was El Manzano. In 2015, and due to Fredecol´s small size and weight when facing the interest of one of the biggest clay companies in Southamerica, many other local organizations defending hills are convoked to form the Red de Lomas de Lima (Lima hills network), and later on the Red de Lomas del Perú (Peru hills network) formed in 2018. The Lima hills network presented a file proving that the technical solutions proposed by Cementos Lima were not viable. Finally, in 2020, the authorities denied the opening of the “Cristina” quarry in El Manzano hills. This was settling a precedent on grootgrass initiatives facing a company with great power and political reach.
In 2018, Jaime met the San Bartolo major, with the idea of recognizing the Cicasos hills as part of the network of vulnerable ecosystems of Lima. As explained before, the hills permit the current conditions of the water cycle in a desertic city. They provide remedy to short term issues derived from climate change, as a form of adaptation through the water cycle regulation, the presence of vegetation coping with carbon dioxide emissions, and the transfer of water to wetlands located close to them. That year, the hills were officially recognized as a vulnerable ecosystem by legal norm RDE 153-2018-MINAGRI-SERFOR-DE. Moreover, their soil allow the percolation of humidity into the water table, avoiding the disappearance of wells required for human consumption. The hills also shelter several insects required for pollination. More information can be found on the Storymap presented at the end of this document.
According to Jaime, the objectives of the recognition of the Lima hills as a vulnerable ecosystem are two. Firstly, to create a municipality-citizen element to protect vulnerable ecosystems. Secondly, to include the hills on the Lima Hills System Regional Conservation Area. The replicability of the model followed by other hills conservation organization would provide stronger background and probably more resources to protect Cicasos from its main dangers: Cementos Lima on their quest for more high-quality clay present in the hills soil, and real state companies interested in developing projects in a growing city. However, the development of a strategic plan presents several complications, including that there are several views on what this plan should look like with different views that could even be opposite one to another.
Many limitations of the protection of Cicasos hills, as for most of these projects, are related to the established corruption on private and public sectors, confirming the thesis that the State is the main booster of informality and loss of biodiversity (Venegoni, n.d.). Many economic interests besides the protection of ecosystems play different roles and exercise different levels of stress, most of them benefiting from the ignorance and disinterest of big part of local population in regards of ecological preservation and ecological services. This reflects on several municipal ordinances not being followed by citizens and companies, legal protections supporting polluting industrial activities, a police force not acting according to existing protocols for land enclosure, for example. The lack of resources also plays a big role on the lack of action to achieve the goals. There is no budget item at San Bartolo municipality to create the file for Cicasos and enter the formal hills protection system, reason why the municipality has started to plan eco-tourism activities to raise necessary funds.
| Preliminary research |
| 1) City: Lima |
| 2) Initiative: Ecosystem protection |
| Selection case |
| 3) Case: Cicasos hills (San Bartolo) |
| 5) Organization: Fredecol |
| Collection of information |
| 6) Internet: Scientific literature |
| 7) Projects reports |
| 8) Facebook |
| 9) E-mail contact |
| 10) Phone pre-interview |
| 11) Zoom interview with Fredecol President |
| Production of the entry |
| Submission of the entry |
1. Invitation to Cicasos eco-trekking.
2. A group of people standing on the dirt.
3. Fredecol team leading the eko-trekking at Cicasos hill.
Bibliography
Lomeros en Lima (LEL). 2014. Proyecto Lomas: Pacto politico Lomas de Lima. [Online]. Available at: http://proyectolomas.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/6/3/10637077/pacto_poltico_por_las_lomas_de_lima_i.pdf
Mamani, J.M., Nieuwland, B. 2017. Las lomas de Lima: Enfocando ecosistemas desérticos como espacios abiertos en Lima metropolitana. Espacio y Desarrollo, [Online], 29, pp. 109-133. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317143928
Municipalidad de Lima Metropolitana (MLM). 2014. Lomas de lima: Futuros parques de la ciudad. Servicio de parques de Lima, [Online]. Available at: https://periferia.pe/assets/uploads/2020/06/Lomas-de-Lima_compressed.pdf
Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD). 2018. Proyecto EbA Lomas: Retos y oportunidades en la conservación de las lomas de Lima Metropolitana. PNUD, [Online]. Available at: https://www.undp.org/content/dam/peru/docs/Publicaciones%20medio%20ambiente/Brochure_24PP_FINAL.pdf
Venegoni, Luisa. N.d. Justice for invaders? Urbanization-Conservation Conflict in Lima, Peru´s Lomas Ecosystems, [Online]. Available at: http://stonecenter.tulane.edu/uploads/Venegoni_Upload-1498770155.pdf
Storymap
Contact
Red de Lomas del Perú – connecting ideas and actions to preserve a humid ecosystem in the desert
In the middle of the desert landscape of the coast of Peru and its neighbor Chile, the Lomas stand out as islands of vegetation. With many endemic species, the ecosystem resists aridity by capturing the cold maritime humidity of the Pacific Ocean that enters the continent, the garúa. The millenary relationship between vegetation and ocean humidity ensured the safety of the water in the surroundings, especially in large cities. With the destruction of hills for pasture, agriculture, and mining, desertification has increased severely in recent decades. The Red de Lomas del Peru (Peru’s Lomas network) is a non-profit citizen association that centralizes the activities of other social groups, with the objective of conserving these coastal hills in Peru. Although its activities are concentrated in Lima, a megalopolis of 8.5 million inhabitants, the network articulates actions at the national level. The entry of water from the Garúa due to the presence of hills in the vicinity of the urban territory promotes local environmental improvements in the quality of air, rivers and groundwater.
At the same time that the hills are ecosystems sensitive to climate change, especially to changes in the duration and intensity of the El Niño phenomenon, they act in the water management of the local climate in the midst of complex processes of desertification. Thus, the activities of the Red de Lomas del Peru have ensured the lomas as conservation areas, and have sought to restore previously degraded areas. This is more present in the city of Lima, which has a history marked by water scarcity and water supply problems for its inhabitants.
The main objective of the network is to build sustainable communities through the conservation, protection, management and improvement of the ecosystems of the Peruvian lomero. In their vision, they want to be a network of reference and recognized as a generator of awareness and environmental responsibility for their capacity for action and proposals for the protection and defense of the hills and their sustainable management by citizens, communities, social organizations, the State and private companies. Behind these activities are three values: commitment to the environment, especially the hills; solidarity with environmental defenders; and the culture of caring for the community. For years, different associations have faced environmental conflicts such as land invasions and informal mining to ensure the protection of the lomas ecosystem throughout Peru. The Red de Lomas del Peru arises in 2018 from the need to articulate these parties into a unit that can have a greater presence in the nation, exchange experiences and collaborate with each other, in order to have a greater involvement with government authorities. In addition to giving voice to the members of the network and their allies, the network has also listened to governmental and scientific institutions, and to civil society as a whole.
Today, many of those involved in the activities of the Red de Lomas del Peru were, or still are, linked to the associations that make up the network. The president of the Asociación Ecológica Lomas de Primavera (Lomas de Primavera Ecological Association) in Carabaylo, Ascencio Vásquez, is president of the Network. Vicepresident Yovita Barzola acts as President of the Asociación Ecoturística Lomas de Mangomarca (Lomas de Mangomarca Ecotourism Association). The same occurs with other members such as: Gerónimo Huayhua, former president and current member of the “Circuito Ecoturístico Lomas de Paraíso” (Lomas de Paraíso Ecotourism Circuit) in Villa María del Triunfo; Trinidad Pérez, member of the association “Protectores Ambientales de la Flor y Lomas de Amancaes (PAFLA)” (Environmental Protectors of the Flower and Hills of Amancaes)” in the district of Rímac; Jorman Cabello, president of “Haz Tu Mundo Verde”; Yrma Peralta, president of the “Apu Ikiri Warmi Association”; Julieta de la Torre, leader of the “Comunidad Campesina de Atiquipa” (“Atiquipa Peasant
Community”).
With the communication facilities of the digital age, the initiative to organize networks of knowledge and actions is easily replicable. More than the sum of the strengths of the associations already formed, the networks allow a greater scope of activities and a new organizational identity that encompasses new challenges and new objectives.
Thanks to these joint efforts, they have already managed to make important decisions for the conservation of hills legitimized by documents, such as: the declaration of hills as fragile ecosystems, in 2018; Supreme Decree 011-2019-MINAM establishing the Regional Conservation Area “Sistema Lomas de Lima”, in December 2019; Supreme Decree 007-2020-MINAGRI, which establishes the “Inter-institutional Protocol to protect fragile ecosystems” and allows action against illegal and informal activities in the hills, in August 2020.