Integrating ecological and cultural histories to inform sustainable and equitable futures for the Colombian páramos

Our inter-disciplinary project addresses the first challenge of the Colombian Bio Resources call by examining: (1) the socio-ecological system of páramo habitat in Boyacá and Cundinamarca; (2) the value of biodiversity in this system to local communities and wider society; and (3) the response of páramo ecosystems to environmental change and anthropogenic pressures including social and political change. Through investigating the current and potential value of biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by páramos, both in monetary and non-monetary terms, the project will promote the economy of páramos in the Departments of Boyacá and Cundinamarca, thereby contributing to economic development and social welfare in Colombia. We will integrate ecosystem-based and historical conceptions of human-nature interactions to reveal how socio-economic, political and cultural changes have interacted with environmental pressures in shaping páramo ecosystems over time, and use this new understanding to inform future sustainable and equitable governance options. In this way we will address the programme's challenge of "functioning and resilience of socio-economic systems" by bringing together researchers from natural sciences and humanities.

The history of high-elevation páramo habitat is fundamental in understanding the pressures this ecosystem now faces. For the Muisca people and for many páramo inhabitants today, páramos are sacred places from where the gods came that controlled water and the origin and maintenance of life. To European colonists, páramos were seen as the source of abundant mineral riches based around the legend of El Dorado. More recently, the critical importance of páramos in providing fresh water to the growing urban populations of Colombia and supporting unique biodiversity have come to the fore, along with the recognition that the system faces significant challenges from climate change and land-use pressures. These competing pressures are placing increasingly diverse demands on the system, and, despite a number of initiatives both nationally and internationally, tensions over the management and governance of the system persist. The páramo socio-ecological system is therefore ideal for addressing the challenges of the Colombia Bio Resources programme.

Our project will show how an integrated environmental-historical understanding of páramo ecosystem patterns, processes and pressures can provide insights to new governance solutions. We will take a 500-year historical perspective to analyse changes in the socio-ecological system of páramos over time, focusing on the central role of human-nature interactions and how these have changed in response to differing social, political and cultural contexts. We will quantify how páramo habitat has changed, from decades to centuries. We will consider how these changes have impacted on ecosystem dynamics, and predict what further changes are likely to occur in the future under climate and other drivers of change. We will explore how human-nature relationships in páramo landscapes have changed and compare the perspectives of local communities with other private and state actors. We will identify the potential for páramo communities to obtain monetary values from páramos and the ecosystem services they provide, examining the synergies and trade-offs between different ecosystem services. Our research will provide a unique historical context for the development of future governance options, including new partnerships between different stakeholders underpinned by greater social and cultural understanding. The project will deliver recommendations for mechanisms to promote more sustainable and equitable futures for páramo landscapes, in the context of key political and social challenges such as post-conflict displacement, illegal mining, changing climate and increasing water demand from urbanization.

The importance of ensuring ecosystems are resilient, continue to support livelihoods and contribute to poverty eradication is a central tenet of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets in the CBD's Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. Transformative pathways to sustainability are also emphasised in national and international programmes, such as Seeds of a Good Anthropocene (USA), EKLIPSE (EU), and Future Earth (international). Our research is well placed to inform these initiatives, as well as the IPBES Regional Assessment for the Americas (Decision IPBES 3/1 Annex V). Internationally, bearing in mind that most Andean cities depend on healthy páramos for their supply of fresh water, the research will have benefits for understanding páramo systems in Peru and Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela. To enhance the international reach of the project, we will invite páramo researchers and NGOs from these countries to our final project workshop in order to enhance shared learning around páramo systems and their governance.

At the national level, resilience has become a key priority for Colombia, as it is for the Latin American region as a whole. Climate-resilient development now has a legal mandate in Colombia's National Development Plan. The Climate Change National Adaptation Plan (CCNAP) provides an umbrella for work on climate change, economic development and resilience, and guidance documents are starting to be produced for different sectors under the CCNAP. At the end of 2015, the Colombian Government launched Colombia Sostenible, a national-level initiative that takes an integrative approach to addressing climate change, social inequality and post-conflict challenges. Dr Lacambra's contacts with the Ministry of Environment through previous adaptation projects will ensure that the results of the research have an opportunity to influence further developments under these initiatives. We will use these contacts, and those of our other Colombian partners, to deliver high-level participation of policy makers in our final workshop.

Colombia has recently introduced ecosystem services into its biodiversity policy (MADS, 2012) and the first national mapping of ecosystem services for Colombia has just been completed (Rodriguez et al., Land Use Policy 42:609). Our project will provide the Departmental authorities of Boyacá and Cundinamarca with information on ecosystem services to feed into adaptation plans that are already being developed. Our research will also inform the national and local environmental authorities in decisions on any developments where impacts on key páramo ecosystem services are likely to occur, and what impacts on livelihoods may follow as a consequence.

At the local level, the project will provide information to the Colombian Municipalities to improve their Local Territorial planning, in accordance with the national emphasis on resilience. Continued dialogue through the project with representatives of the Ministry of Environment, local environmental authorities, community groups and other end-users will expand our existing research and knowledge network and establish further impact for the project at international, national and local levels. Specific benefits are likely to include further collaborative projects with Colombian Universities, as well as strengthening through sound science the Protected Areas System in Colombia, and building capacity in non-governmental organisations and local communities through student and staff exchanges, and practical adaptation and resilience-building initiatives.