Water Impact Monitoring To Ensure Climate Resilience In The Andes

Record droughts in South America have led to devastating wildfires, water rations, and planned power outages. Driven by the urgent water crisis in South America, Global Forest Generation began work on a new “Acción Andina Water Impact Monitoring Framework,” with funding from The Coca-Cola Foundation. This crucial effort will provide missing intel about how much water is retained from high Andean reforestation efforts, helping local conservation partners make informed decisions on where to replant for maximum benefit to communities experiencing drought.

The effort aims to create a locally led, simple, and effective reporting tool that will enhance partner capacity to monitor water availability and societal benefits. It will have a standard methodology to track key water metrics that will support broader public and private sector goals. With better data across the region, the initiative will improve decision-making by identifying threats and opportunities, while optimizing GFG’s investments in restoration and conservation activities.

The Acción Andina Water Impact Monitoring Framework will be developed through four phases (discovery, design, development, and piloting), in close collaboration with three initial partners from Ecuador (FONAG), Bolivia (Faunagua), and Peru (ECOAN). These partners have existing water monitoring systems in place for local projects but are not yet integrated into Acción Andina. Insights from the initial partners will inform the design phase and help establish the water reporting criteria for all partners. We aim to complete the project in 2025 and will update partners and donors on our progress regularly.