Kevin Schafer / iNaturalist

Biodiversity

The protection of biodiversity is a common mandate of various global initiatives, such as the Strategic Plan of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Mountains are hot spots for biodiversity on a global and continental level, and show a high proportion of endemic and specialist species, with a high vulnerability to climate change and vertical displacement (towards higher areas) of thermal floors. The Andes mountain range, the longest on earth, is home to three areas considered global biodiversity hotspots: the Tropical Andes, the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena region and the Winter Rain Forests of Chile. Throughout the more than 7000 km of extension of the Andes an enormous variety of ecosystems of forests, shrubs and mountain grasslands occur, from the exuberant humid forests and moors of tropical latitudes to the icy mountain steppes of Tierra del Fuego. These environments are also home to iconic species such as the spectacled bear, the puma, and the Andes condor. The Andean Mountain Initiative considers the preservation of biodiversity and the conservation of ecosystems as a priority axis of action in the Action Plan for the Sustainable Development of the Andean Mountains, directing efforts to the generation of information and the exchange of experiences and good practices.
Climate change

Melissa Delzio / flickr.com

Luis Daniel Llambí
The Andes, like other mountain regions, have a high exposure and vulnerability to climate change, the effects of which add up in a complex way with the effects of change in land use. The increase in temperature and the more heterogeneous changes in the rainfall regimes (very intense or very scarce) bring with them effects on glaciers, accelerating their retreat throughout the continent and on soils, increasing the loss of organic matter and stored carbon. They also generate effects on the landscape, showing changes in the distribution of ecological floors and ecosystems (especially in the moors, punas and evergreen forests); accelerating the degradation of strategic environments such as high Andean peatlands and wetlands; reducing the extension of the climatic niches of many endemic or restricted distribution species. At the same time, climate change creates threats to the health and food security of the population, due to the appearance of new plagues and diseases that affect crops and people, due to the increased frequency of extreme weather events (droughts, floods , landslides, heat waves) and the decrease in the availability of water in the dry season. Since 2018, the Andean Mountain Initiative has promoted the Strategic Agenda, on Adaptation to Climate Change in the Andes Mountains, which establishes objectives aimed at reducing vulnerability, strengthening the adaptation and resilience processes of Andean communities and strengthening scientific research. social and environmental necessary for planning adaptation measures at the regional level.
Glaciers
Melissa Delzio / flickr.com

Water Resources

The population of the Andes

Ignacio Platero / flickr.com