Between 7-15 July, 2009, a unique gathering of international scientists, practitioners, and policy makers took place in Peru to examine the impacts of glacier recession caused by contemporary climate change. The interdisciplinary workshop was the result of a collaborative effort by The Mountain Institute (TMI) in collaboration with US Agency for International Development (USAID), U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), University of Georgia (UGA), Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, and International Resources Group (IRG). Specifically, workshop participants examined:
- the implications of diminishing glaciers for freshwater supplies,
- the impacts on communities and economic sectors that depend on glacial water water,
- the development of adaptive strategies, and
- the identification of priority research and pilot project needs.
For millennia, mountain glaciers have provided a significant portion of the world’s freshwater that has been of critical importance to millions of people living downstream.   Tropical Andean and subtropical Himalayan glaciers in particular have been heavily impacted. According to Peru’s Glaciological Institute and National Environmental Commission, for example, 71 per cent of the 2,500 km2 of glacial ice fields found between Colombia and Bolivia are located in Peru. Of this, about 35 per cent, or 723 km2 , is found in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca.  From 1970 to 2007 an estimated 30 per cent of the Cordillera Blanca´s ice was lost, with half of this occurring during the past ten years. Impacts on water supplies are of particular concern given that 70 per cent of Peru’s population lives on the coast, 80 percent of its agricultural exports are produced there, and 100 per cent of the region is dependent upon the glaciers and watersheds of the Andes mountains to the east for its freshwater supply.
Other associated hazards include an increase in the formation of glacial lakes, created when melt-water from a retreating glacier fills the now empty bowl-like depression gouged out by the original glacier. Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are caused when ice avalanches, earthquakes, and/or natural dam breaching suddenly unleash the lake water stored behind the unstable terminal moraines that contain the lake. This can lead to enormous devastation downstream, including high death tolls and the destruction of valuable forests, farms, and costly infrastructure.  For example, 10,000 people died in the Cordillera Blanca between 1941 and 1950 from GLOFs prior to the commencement of lake control projects in the late 1950s. In the Himalayas, new glacial lakes are rapidly forming, and scientists and governments alike are concerned over the likelihood of increased GLOF occurrence in the coming decades.
Coping with this future of reduced water supplies and increased natural hazards was the focus of discussions during the 8 day workshop between experts from Latin America, the United States, Nepal, and Europe (please see the workshop’s daily blog at ……). The interdisciplinary workshop brought glacier and climate change experts from the physical and social sciences together with policy makers, one of the first such gatherings of its kind. The workshop also culminated in recommendations and concrete plans for future collaborative research, priority research themes, and pilot projects.
During the first day in Lima, the conference was open to the public with 250 participants attending at the beautiful Catholic University venue, including scientists, government officials, the media, and graduate students. Following three days of presentations and panel discussions, 80 specialists and graduate students traveled to Huaraz to attend the remaining workshop events. They included a half-day training session in the “Vulnerability and Adaptationâ€� approach to climate change resilience building, a method adapted by USAID and currently being field tested by TMI.  Breakout working groups then spent three days identifying priority research and action project needs in the Water, Biodiversity, and Agricultural sectors, recommendations that were presented to Government of Peru officials in Lima on 15 July. Field trips to the rapidly melting Pastoruri glacier, mechanically controlled glacial lake at Llaca, and local communities in Yungay that had experienced catastrophic events in the recent past provided the opportunity for participants to see firsthand the threats and opportunities currently facing the region.Â
Workshop participants agreed that the interdisciplinary workshop was a unique, successful, and high impact event that helped open regional and international dialogue on:
- the importance of water resources management for long-range planning and climate change adaptation, sharing the experiences of multiple mountain ranges,
- how changes could affect life in the mountains that depends on glaciers for sustenance, and
- the identification of additional priority research, collaboration, and pilot project initiatives. Â
Largely because of the success of the Peru workshop, a follow-on conference with a distinct South-South experience sharing emphasis is currently being planned for the Himalayan-Hindu Kush region in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2010.
“Adapting to a World without Glaciers� was also unusual in that, thanks to USAID Peru, funding for the actual implementation of key workshop recommendations will be provided through a three-year TMI project entitled “From the Glaciers to the Coast: Building Climate Change Awareness and Resilience in the Ancash and Piura Watersheds of Northern Peru.� The project is designed to:
- strengthen Peru's climate change research and action program agenda by developing and strengthening the linkages between academics, policy makers, and communities
- increase the capacities of highland-lowland (upsteam-downstream) stakeholders to adopt effective adaptive climate change responses through training in the V&A approach, and
- maintain ecosystem services through conservation measures that buffer watersheds against the negative impacts of climate change.
The project commenced in September, 2009 and will be implemented in partnership with mountain communities, local NGOs, multi-lateral donors, the private sector, Peruvian and U.S. universities, and the Government of Peru. Project activities will be implemented at the local, regional, and highland-lowland levels and will promote linkages, partnerships, and actions of mutual benefit among and between highland and lowland stakeholders who normally have little interaction.
More About The Mountain Institute
TMI has a long history of working from the ground up. Over the past 40 years, TMI has used its convening skills and strategic placement to bring mountain and lowland organizations and individuals together for dialogue and problem-solving. TMI has worked for many years in mountainous regions of North and South America, China, India, and Nepal, to strengthen the resilience of mountain people while building their capacity to manage complex challenges through better planning, communication, and action. Climate change marks the newest and perhaps the most difficult of these threats, and one where the challenges faced by mountain communities also have major consequences for large populations and cities downstream.
