The Mountain Institute’s Andean Program (Instituto de Montaña) was established in Peru in 1996 during a time of rapid social change in the mountain communities of the northern Andes. Traditional means of livelihood were in decline at the same time that large-scale mining and hydroelectric projects and tourism were rapidly growing, leading to conflicts between the private sector and local people and degradation of mountain ecosystems. To address this issue, TMI developed a comprehensive community- based project in the Huascaran Biosphere Reserve to demonstrate through pilot projects the potential to diversify local livelihoods through community-based tourism and protection of biodiversity hotspots. Through small-scale biodiversity conservation projects and the promotion of cooperative links with Huascaran National Park, local extractive industries were motivated to support long-term conservation goals.
In 1997, TMI worked with partners to initiate a strategic ecological assessment of the Paramo, or alpine grasslands, in Ecuador. These ecosystems are a critically important source of water and a center of unique biodiversity in the northern Andes. This initiative evolved into the Andean Paramo Conservation Program, currently underway in four Andean countries. Community based tourism pilot projects initiated in the Huascaran Biosphere Reserve were scaled up through a program devoted to integrate the conservation of natural and cultural heritage at landscape scale along the Great Inca Road that connects Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile. Through its programs and projects in the Andes, TMI promotes the development of long-term livelihoods for mountain people linked to the conservation of their mountain ecosystems. The program engages a host of different partners that include local community organizations, national NGOs and government agencies, donors, and the private sector to address the critical needs of communities and the environment in the northern Andes.
•Inca Road Landscape Conservation Program: For biodiversity conservation and sustainable development projects in Great Inca Road sections of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia (in partnership with the Andean Community of Nations and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN-Sur).
• Andean Paramo: Protecting alpine wetlands and fresh water resources for water regulation and biodiversity (Peru in cooperation with partners in Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela).
• Peaks to Coast:Building climate change awareness and resilience in the Ancash and Piura watesheds of northern Perú. (TMI in cooperation with USAID Perú)
• Mountain Ecosystems and Water Security:Linking science and local knowledge related to mountain ecosystems management and water supplies.
