Acción Andina Quarterly Update July - September 2022 Acción Andina, co-founded by GFG and Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos (ECOAN), launched its fifth year of implementation in January 2022. This report highlights Acción Andina partner activities from July through September 2022. Community nursery technician tending to growing Polylepis in Q’ero, Peru. Sept. 2022. Credit: ACCA In the third quarter of the 2022/23 Acción Andina season, all Acción Andina partners alongside local communities have been growing and tending to young seedlings in community and private nurseries, planning reforestation campaigns where 2.75 million native trees will be planted, further strengthening relationships with educational and practical training activities for community members, and formalizing collaborations with local private and public partners. 1 Acción Andina partners in 2022: Country Partner(s) Argentina Fundación Bosquizar Fundación Actividades Biosféricas (FAB) Árbol y Vida Bolivia Armonía Faunagua Chile Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF - 2 entities) 1 Ecuador Aves y Conservación Andean Adventures Fondo Páramos de Tungurahua (a water protection fund) Fondo para la Protección de Agua (FONAG - a water protection fund) Peru Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos (ECOAN) Conservación Amazónica (ACCA) Plant Production & Reforestation We begin this report with an update on all of the seedlings currently growing in 65 nurseries in the Acción Andina network. Plant production provides part-time jobs as well as income for community-owned nurseries. Local Acción Andina partners provide training to nursery technicians and project coordinators throughout the year on plant propagation, knowledge which is also shared across the Acción Andina network in webinars organized by the Acción Andina management team. 2.75 million native trees will be planted this season, mostly between October 2022 and March 2023 during the high Andean rainy season, although two partners have already begun their reforestation campaigns. In Pichincha province, Ecuador, FONAG kicked off its reforestation season by planting 12,000 native trees with one local community, while Páramos de Tungurahua in Tungurahua, Ecuador has already planted 85,000 native trees with seven local communities, spread out across 15 reforestation campaigns with approximately 60 participants each. FONAG plans to plant a total of 310,000 native trees by March, where 59,000 seedlings will be purchased from three community nurseries, while Páramos de Tungurahua will plant 175,000 total, where 90,000 seedlings will be purchased from community-owned nurseries. 1 Due to changes in the Chilean government and delays in administrative processes, the government agency CONAF’s continued participation in Acción Andina is uncertain. GFG and ECOAN are mobilizing support for the creation of a new non-profit entity in Chile to implement Acción Andina projects with CONAF conservation leaders, while maintaining open relations with CONAF itself for possible future collaborations. 2 Transporting seedlings for planting in Tungurahua, Ecuador. Sept 2022. Credit: Páramos de Tungurahua Also in Ecuador, Aves y Conservación will plant 265,000 native trees across three projects, including 50,000 for their newest project in Yanahurco, while Andean Adventures will be planting 210,000. In Córdoba province, Argentina, FAB currently has 176,506 plants in production, above their 150,000 goal, while Fundación Bosquizar has 150,000 growing in nurseries. Árbol y Vida in Jujuy in northern Argentina, aims to plant 50,000 native trees this season. In Tunari National Park in Cochabamba, Bolivia, where both Bolivian Acción Andina partners work, Armonía expects to plant 210,000 native trees while Faunagua will plant 100,000. An interesting aspect of Armonía’s project is that it works very closely with the Cochabamba municipal government, an avid supporter of Acción Andina , which has worked with Armonía to expand its total nursery capacity to 270,000 plants. 3 Finally, in Peru Acción Andina co-founder and lead implementing agency ECOAN has 920,000 native seedlings in production across five projects. In its newest project in Cajamarca, 10,000 native trees will be planted this season, while work has already begun on building a new nursery to grow the project next season as the community wants to ramp up their reforestation capability. Also in Peru, ACCA has 120,000 seedlings in production in Challabamba and 50,000 in Q’ero. Polylepis growing in the Quengomaya community nursery in Cajamarca, Peru. July 2022 Credit: ECOAN 4 Overall, most species grown in Acción Andina projects are Polylepis species. , including Polylepis australis, Polylepis tomentella, Polylepis subtusalbida, Polylepis incana, Polylepis pauta, Polylepis reticulata, Polyelpis sericea, Polylepis racemosa, and Polylepis serrata. The Acción Andina management team organized an informative webinar in August with 58 participants from 11 Acción Andina local partner organizations, where scientist Dr. Tatiana Boza presented her findings on the genus Polylepis , including the fascinating results from her taxonomic study concluding that there are 45 species of Polylepis . Previous studies had estimated as few as 15 species and as many as 38. These results have important implications for species selection in Acción Andina projects, where species are carefully chosen reforestation site by reforestation site. Other high Andean species grown in Acción Andina projects include Oreopanax ecuadorensis, Morella pubescens, Miconia spp., Cedrela montana, Alnus acuminata, Alnus glutinosa, and Escallonia myrtilloides. In Aves y Conservación’s Imbabura project specifically, staff have been studying propagation techniques for several high Andean native species, which will influence propagation techniques and species selection in the future for both this project and other Acción Andina projects in similar landscapes. Acción Andina webinar on research advances and updates on Polylepis in the Andes. Aug. 2022. Credit: Anette Luna 5 Community Engagement & Relationship-building In August, one of the toughest ultra marathons took place in the Sacred Valley of the Incas in Peru - Andes Race. GFG sponsored several members of the Acción Andina community to compete for the first time and uphold an ancient tradition of long distance running in the Andes. This video highlights their journey. 25,000 native trees will be planted in honor of our members participating in the event. All local Acción Andina leaders work closely with their local communities, actively building collaborative relationships with indigenous and rural community members, students and staff from local schools and universities, local and regional governing institutions, and staff and managers from businesses. These ongoing activities are numerous; this report shares just a few recent highlights: Community conservation agreements between Acción Andina’s local partner organizations and community members typically cover topics on how existing forests will be protected, how much land will be reserved for ecosystem restoration and how those sites will be maintained and protected, and what services the local conservation organization agrees to provide as compensation. In Tungurahua, Ecuador, for example, Páramos de Tungurahua has signed seven such agreements. It agreed to construct 40 organic gardens and teach community members how to use them as well as to set up 30 agroforestry systems, where native trees and shrubs are integrated into crop and animal farms to provide shelter and improve soil health and water quality. In the last three months Páramos de Tungurahua has purchased materials and plants for these activities, which will be implemented in the next quarter. Meanwhile in Riobamba, Ecuador, Andean Adventures delivered 200 sacks of cement to one community where it will help build a water reservoir. Faunagua, in Bolivia, is also addressing water security issues by providing improved irrigation systems affecting 44 families in one community, and installing a potable water system in another community. Also in Ecuador, complementing the agreements with local communities, Aves y Conservación has been developing relationships with private companies. Seguros Zurich, a private entity operating in the same area as the Imbabura project, has agreed to support the planting of 1,500 native trees as well as to provide employee volunteers for reforestation campaigns. In Aves y Conservación’s Yanahurco project, Casabaca (Toyota dealer) has donated funds as well as the time and expertise of its marketing department to help create promotional materials. 6 Training in forest fire prevention and management, Tunari, Bolivia. July 2022. Credit: Armoni ́ a In Bolivia and Peru, Acción Andina partners carried out various forest fire prevention and management workshops over the last three months. ECOAN involved 60 people from two communities in a workshop in Ccorca, and over 120 people across two workshops in Vilcanota. Armonía, in Bolivia, installed 6.5 kilometers (4.5 miles) of fire lines along with conducting community workshops. It is important to emphasize the significance of these workshops, which are very practical in nature and include the distribution of fire-fighting equipment to these communities, as they are located in particularly remote areas where municipal firefighters may take a long time to arrive. In Argentina, Acción Andina partners in Córdoba province participated in a special conference about Polylepis held by the Córdoba Secretariat of the Environment, as well as held several educational workshops in local schools. Fundación Bosquizar hosted forestry workshops with over 80 participants, while FAB held a “planting day” with 152 students and staff from the Los Gigantes community where 1,000 Polylepis australis trees were planted. In Jujuy province, Árbol y Vida signed an important agreement with the University of Jujuy where students can use volunteer hours spent with Árbol y Vida for academic credit. Thirty five students are currently volunteering in tree nurseries. 7 Polylepis forest in Yanahurco, Ecuador. July 2022. Credit: Aves y Conservación Conservation One of the most effective ways to protect existing forests is through fencing. In Argentina, FAB installed 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles) of fencing for one area of existing forest and also inspected 8 kilometers (5 miles) of previously installed fencing. Árbol y Vida installed fencing for one part of the Provincial Park it works in to protect existing Polylepis forest patches. In Bolivia, Armonía installed one kilometer (0.6 miles) of fencing in the Laphia community to protect existing forests. In this second case, fencing is taking place on community-owned land, so this installation is the result of the entire community’s majority vote to protect their existing forests. In Ecuador, FONAG installed three kilometers (1.8 miles) of protective fencing, including for previously reforested areas, while ECOAN in Peru installed one kilometer (0.6 miles) of fencing in a Private Conservation Area particularly important for Royal Cinclodes (a bird species listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN) habitat. Another avenue of forest conservation is the creation of Private Conservation Areas. “Private” here refers to land owned by local communities as well as by individuals. Acción Andina partners do not purchase land directly for conservation. Local Acción Andina partners work closely with communities to title their ancestral lands and create management plans, including the creation of government-recognized Private Conservation Areas (PCAs), to help manage their land sustainably and protect it in the long-term. In Jujuy, Argentina, Árbol y Vida is currently exploring this option 8 with a group of local landowners. In Peru, ECOAN routinely helps local communities renew PCAs (their current network of PCAs spans almost 10,000 hectares - approximately 25,000 acres), and recently created a new PCA within the Vilcanota project. In ECOAN’s Aquia project a new PCA is also being developed. We will continue reporting on progress in establishing PCAs in the next quarter. GFG and our Acción Andina partners thank you for your support, and we look forward to providing you with more updates on the reforestation season in the new year! For more visual highlights from the last three months, please access this photo album! 9