ANDES AFFORESTATION PROJECT

Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Acción Andina

The Amazon is the largest deforestation front in the world, with the World Wildlife Foundation estimating that 27% of the Amazon biome will be deforested by 2030. In addition, Andean glaciers have lost 3 feet in thickness annually since 2000 according to glaciologists, which has significant impacts on global sea level rise. Due to decades of deforestation, only 500,000 hectares of polylepis forests exist across the Andes mountain range. Polylepis forests comprise 28 shrub and tree species that are endemic to the high-elevation regions of the tropical Andes, and are the origin of the flower of water into the headwaters of the Amazon. Polylepis trees absorb and store water from cloud forest mist, which promotes the growth of sphagnum moss that helps transform degraded, eroded landscapes. The Andes Afforestation Project is a high altitude campaign that has so far planted 1.5 million polylepis trees and 1.5 additional native trees. The project is led by Acción Andina, which have organized a network of on-the-ground conservation practitioners and work to provide alternatives to the root causes of deforestation, including providing alternative fuels for clean burning stoves, providing assistance with improved grazing management and assisting with technical and financial support for sustainable agriculture, ecotourism and micro businesses to help preserve the indigenous cultures of the Andes. This model relies on leadership by community partners who secure titles to their land and prevent takeover by timber, mining and oil companies. The project afforests the area just beneath retreating glaciers to stabilize soil. Ultimately, the long-term success of the project relies on financing and the decentralization of the project beyond a single NGO to ensure ownership of the campaign across the Andes.

2020 - 2045
2500000 acres
22838 feet above sea level

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