Constantino Aucca, a Peruvian biologist of Quechua origin, engaged for over two decades with Andean communities in ecosystem restoration. Then Global Forest Generation, a U.S.-based conservation group, partnered with Aucca to expand his model. The result was Acción Andina, a nonprofit now working with hundreds of Indigenous communities in the high Andes to restore forests, stem biodiversity loss, and secure water sources, all the while drawing on Incan traditions and knowledge. Founded in 2018, Acción Andina has so far coordinated community plantings of 10 million trees across the Andean portions of Perú, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and Argentina. The goal is to plant 100 million trees on one million hectares (2.47 million acres) of the high Andes before moving on to replicate the model in India and other countries that have asked for the organization’s assistance. Recognized for its large-scale, long-term restoration model, Acción Andina has been named a UN World Restoration Flagship under the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. At the center of the effort is Aucca, who spoke recently with EcoAméricas correspondent Lara Rodríguez. [Log in to read more]

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