Scientists install glacier station in Cuzco

Peruvian scientists have installed a station 5,180 meters above sea level on the Quisoquipina glacier in Cuzco department to measure the impact of climate change, the environment ministry said.

The Cuzco station is one of two that will be installed in Peru as part of the Adaptation to the Impact of the Accelerated Retreat of Glaciers in the Tropical Andean Region (PRAA) project, state news agency Andina reported.

PRAA has been implemented in the Andean region since 2008 and is funded through the Work Bank’s Global Environment Fund and the Japanese government. Read more…

German experts begin research on climate change in Mantaro valley

Forestry experts from Germany’s Dresden, University of Technology have begun research into the effects of climate change in Peru’s Mantaro valley, in central Junin department.

The research is part of an agreement between Peru’s rural development program AgroRural and the university’s International Forestry and Forest Products Institute, state news agency Andina reported. Read more…

IADB to provide $200 million for sustainable development projects in 2011

The Washington D.C.-based Inter-American Development Bank will provide Peru $200 million this year to finance sustainable development projects, country representative Fidel Jaramillo said.

“With this [$200 million] we are going to finance projects like the new sustainable energy matrix, adaptation and mitigation to climate change, the management of natural disasters, and the use of water,” Jarmillo said.

The IADB has been financing these types of development projects in Peru for the past two years and expects to continue its work for at least another two, state news agency Andina reported.

Jarmillo said the IADB has been supporting projects on Peru’s main river basins in order to better managed the resource. Water is an important issue particularly on Peru’s arid coastal region. It is one of the main reasons behind social conflicts between industry and communities.

“As well, we are supporting reforms for policy against climate change even though we haven’t yet calculated how much is needed to fight against climate change because there are topics that are related to adaptation and mitigation,” he said.

Jaramillo made the comments during the presentation of the IADB’s Sustainability Report for 2010, which presented the opportunities and challenges for sustainability in Latin America and the Caribbean.

According to the report, the region saw an improvement last year in its capacity to resolve its sustainability problems.

In the long term, the report points to the extreme climate challenges that the region will face as a result of climate change and its risk to water supply and biodiversity.

In 2010, the IADB provided about $3.60 billion to the region for projects on environmental and energy sustainability and climate change.

Comptroller general: Latin American gov’ts need to do more to mitigate climate change

As parts of Latin America will be among the world’s most vulnerable to climate change, governments in the region have not done enough to mitigate damage, according to Peru’s comptroller general, Fuad Khoury.

“While countries don’t adopt the fundamental measures needed to mitigate climate change, they will continue to have problems,” state news agency Andina reported Khoury as saying.

Khoury was speaking last week during a meeting in Lima on the implementation of UN commitments to mitigate climate change. Read more…

Regions plan for Earth Hour 2011 with cultural, educational activities

At least five Peruvian regions have said they will turn off their lights for an hour this Saturday to take part in Earth Hour 2011, state news agency Andina reported.

In Iquitos, the capital of the north-east Loreto department, the Peruvian Amazon Research Institute (IIAP) and the Environmental Youth Volunteer Network plan to perform typical dances and theatre in one of the city squares when the lights go out from 8:30pm-9:30pm.

“The artists will be illuminated by torches and bonfire that will be lit around the park,” said Andrea Tello Meza of the regional government’s Natural Resources and Environmental Management office. Read more…

Report: Climate change causing historic shortage of water in Tacna

The department of Tacna, on Peru’s southern border with Chile and Bolivia, is facing some of the scarcest water conditions in its history as a result of climate change, according to a report by the Peruvian think-tank Analysis for Development Group (Grade), the Washington D.C.-based Inter-American Development Bank, and the country’s Ministry of the Environment (Minam).

Areas most affected are the region’s provinces of Candarave and Tarata, located in the eastern part of the department in the Peruvian Andes. The Palca district, further southwest in Tacna province, has also been affected.

The study forecasts that temperatures will continue to increase and that precipitation on the region’s highlands will decrease, while Tacna’s lower areas should expect more extreme rains, state news agency Andina reported.

Authors of the study called for better management of Tacna’s water resources to mitigate the future impact of climate change.   The water shortage affects potato, corn, broad bean, kiwicha and quinoa crops.

Many of Peru’s arid coastal regions receive their water from Andean glaciers, which are in accelerated meltdown. At least 22 percent of the glacier area in the Andes has been lost since 1970. According to the Environment Ministry, droughts and increasing water shortage could also affect the neighboring departments of Moquegua and Tacna.

National water agency to team up with France’s IRD for glacier study

Peru’s national water authority, ANA, will team up with French development agency IRD to conduct scientific studies on the evolution of glaciers in Peru and how they have retreated over the last decade as a result of global warming.

The study is part of a new cooperation agreement between ANA and the IRD to identify the new challenges for glaciers and how to mitigate the problem, state news agency Andina reported.

ANA head Carlos Pagador said the work will look to avoid a reduction in water reserves and negative impacts on watersheds. In addition, researchers will study threats from avalanches. Read more…

Germany contributes 60 mn euros to forestry conservation projects

Peru and Germany have signed a joint strategy agreement in which Germany will contribute approximately 60 million euros for forestry conservation, state news agency Andina reported.

The four-year strategy is for Sustainable Rural Development – Management of Natural Resources and Climate Change, which covers a series of projects operated by the Ministry of the Environment to protect forests and protected areas.

Environment minister Antonio Brack said the funding will ensure the continuation of projects already underway, in which the ministry will be working with indigenous communities near the protected areas to train them as park rangers.  Most of the projects are in Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Apurimac and Junin, under threat from increased coca crops as well as deforestation due to mining and farming. Read more…

Environment Minister Brack inaugurates conference 3R3: Towards a Green Peru

Environment Minister Antonio Brack inaugurated the environmental conference 3R3: Towards a Green Peru on Monday.

During the conference, Brack said that about 80 percent of solid waste in Peru is left untreated in the environment, state news agency Andina reported.

“Never before has humanity had as much technology in its reach to see what is happening in the world and prevent the environmental problems and never before have people been as conscious of the importance of protecting the environment,” he said. Read more…

Peru’s Quelccaya glacier could disappear within 10 years, specialist says

Peru’s Quelccaya glacier, the largest in the tropics, could disappear within 10 years, Jose Machare, a climate change specialist at Peru’s Geological Society told state news agency Andina.

Studies of Quelccaya during the last 30 years have found the glacier retreated at an average rate of 6 meters per year during the first 15 years and 60 meters per year in the last 15. This year, it is expected to retreat 150 meters as a result of an unprecedented increase in global temperatures.

“Right now we are in a period of warming, the temperature will become warmer than the normal curve until we begin a new glaciation period,” Machare said. “This is caused by various human factors.” Read more…

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