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German Andrade
Practitioner Fellow at World Wildlife Fund
Location:
Lake Fúquene, Colombia
Project Title: Management Implications of Global Climate Change on Biodiversity Conservation at Lake Fúquene, Colombia
Publications and Presentations: Biodiversity in the Fúquene– Cucunubá and Palacio Lagoon Complex. Bases for a Conservation Strategy with regard to impacts of Climate Change in the Eastern Colombian Andean Range.
Project Description
High in the Andes Mountains in Colombia exists an ecological system in which nature, traditional cultures, and a highly productive dairy industry coexist.
At Lake Fúquene, wealthy dairy farmers who transformed a major part of the lake into an irrigation facility live next to small peasant communities still maintaining traditional livelihoods associated with the lake and wetlands.
The socio-ecological equilibrium of this relatively small, seasonally rain-fed watershed is becoming increasingly fragile due to climate change, which most affects high altitude freshwater systems. In 2000, Fundación Humedales, a Colombian nongovernmental organization, selected the Lake Fúquene area as a model site for the implementation of a participatory ecosystem management approach.
German Andrade is analyzing climatic and hydrological data to develop a conceptual and technical framework about vulnerability and adaptability to climate change to provide the technical basis of the conservation and sustainable development agenda for the lake/wetland complex.
"The results will be included in the promotional and policy-making processes in which Fundación Humedales currently takes an active part," said Mr. Andrade. "Specific emphasis will be given to biodiversity and human livelihoods within the theoretical framework of the ecosystem's unstable states and ecosystem approach to management. Expected results of the intervention are changing policy-making processes and increased public awareness."
Biographical Information
German Andrade received his biology degree from Andes University, with postgraduate studies in animal biology (Paris VII University), population ecology (Costa Rica), and environmental sciences (Yale). He has been an environmental writer for Colombian newspapers since 1985.
Mr. Andrade is a regional specialist in protected areas and biodiversity conservation. His professional experience includes serving as a consultant for European governments (Switzerland, Finland, Italy, and Holland), multi-lateral organizations (World Bank, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, United Nations Environment Programme, and United Nations Development Programme) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). His work included the design, implementation, or evaluation of conservation in Venezuela (Canaima), Peru (Machu Picchu and Tambopata), Ecuador (Amazonia), and Bolivia (Lake Titicaca).
Mr. Andrade's prior positions included director of Fundación Natura Colombia, senior researcher of the Colombian Biodiversity Institute (Alexander von Humboldt Institute), and promoter and researcher at Fundación Humedales (Colombian Wetlands Foundation). He is a member of the Living Lakes international network, an active board member of the Colombian Natural Patrimony Fund, and member of the IUCN Commission of Protected Areas and Colombian Committee.
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