Building Climate Change Awareness and Resilience in the Ancash and Piura Watersheds of Northern Peru

This project developed cooperative projects with communities in the upper sections of the two major river basins of northwestern Peru, the Santa and Chira rivers in the Ancash and Piura Regions.

As a function of the program, community groups designed conservation plans for grassland and forest restoration. These conserved areas act as buffers to effects of climate change, such as the swelling and flooding of the Santa and Chira rivers. In partnership with local municipalities, the project supported the development of climate change adaptation plans.

The project also fostered cooperation between highland communities and municipalities and lowland groups that depend on mountain water for their agriculture-dependent economies. Because these economies are heavily dependent on agricultural products, and because the products cannot be grown without reliable access to water, these lowland groups were especially invested in the conservation partnership.