Radolfzell/La Paz/ Puno, 2 February 2012: The environmental foundation Global Nature Fund (GNF) is naming the Bolivian and Peruvian Lake Titicaca the "Threatened Lake of the Year 2012". In commemoration of World Wetlands Day, the GNF draws attention to the rapidly advancing destruction of South America’s largest freshwater lake. Together the GNF and local organisations demand sustainable measures to protect Lake Titicaca and improve its water quality. Pollution from untreated household and industrial sewage, agriculture and precious metals mining threaten the means of existence of the two million people who live in the lake’s catchment area.
Lake Titicaca in the Altiplano, the barren high plateau in the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes, is an attraction for numerous national and international tourists. The lake is also of existential importance for the surrounding population as a source of drinking water and food due to its abundant fish stocks. It is particularly important to the Urus, a small indigenous population, which still today live on traditions "floating islands".
Continual population growth in the region has put enormous strain on resources from the lake and its shore areas as well as on the adjoining land. In past decades, the lake’s self-cleaning capacity was relied upon, which is why the clarification of waste water in the catchment area was inadequate. Today, the grave consequences of this failure can be seen in many places. In Puno Bay, despite some countermeasures, a large part of the water’s surface is already covered in Duckweed, which continues to spread rapidly due to the unhindered nutrient input. The waste water treatment plant of the Bolivian city El Alto, with its 1.1 million inhabitants, only has the capacity for 300,000. It has not met the actual needs of the population for the past 15 years.
In addition to household sewage, pollution from the food processing, leather, cement and timber industries also enters the lake by means of the many tributaries. The extraction of precious metals such as gold and silver in numerous, sometimes illegal mines pollutes the water with heavy metals such as zinc and mercury.
Traditionally, the livelihood of the communities at Lake Titicaca stems from fishing. However, since the mid-1980’s some fishermen have been forced to abandon their work due to the negative impact worsening water quality has had on fish stocks. In order to meet growing food demands, ever larger areas are being used to grow potatoes, corn and grains; burdening the soil and water cycle further through the use of yield increasing fertilisers.
The drastic drop in the lake’s water level showcases the first devastating impact of climate change, which has caused the rainy season to shrink from the original six months to a mere three. At the same time, the amount of water removed from the lake continues to increase to meet growing drinking water, irrigation and industry demands. Declining water levels and dry shore areas mean a loss of habitat and spawning and nesting places for many animals and plants in and around the lake. The concentration of organic and chemical pollution in the water also increases dramatically as water levels decline.
First Measures to Improve the Situation Two new waste water treatment plants in El Alto will, in the long-term, help to improve water quality in the Katari River and in Cohana Bay. This requires substantial investment in the near future in order to protect the "holy lake" and its valuable services for people and nature in the longterm.
The Bolivian nature conservation organisation Trópico has been working together with the Global Nature Fund to realise a climate change project at Lake Titicaca since December 2011. An environmental education campaign will inform the population about climate change and how it affects their livelihoods. An important aspect of the project, which is supported by the Foundation Ursula Merz, is the development of a climate protection concept for La Paz through close collaboration with the city’s municipal government.
Background
In order to contribute to solving the urgent problems facing the world’s wetlands and lakes, the Global Nature Fund annually announces the "Threatened Lake of the Year" today, on World Wetlands Day. Lake Titicaca lies in the north of the Andes plateau, the Altiplano, at an altitude of 3,810 m above sea level. The lake covers an area of 8,400 sq. km and is the highest, commercially navigable water body in the world. The entire lake has been a Ramsar protectorate since 1998.
Lake Titicaca has been a member of the International Living Lakes Network, which is coordinated by the Global Nature Fund, since 2003. The Peruvian environmental or-ganisation CEDAS (Center for Environmental and Social Development) headquartered in Puno and the Bolivian conservation association Trópico – an organisation that promotes actions for people to become protagonists of development, ensuring environmental sustainability and well being of the Bolivian society – based in La Paz have represented Lake Titicaca since its admission into the Living Lakes Network. The lake network makes a successful and sustainable commitment to the affected regions and is supported in this by globally active companies such as Daimler, German Lufthansa, Kärcher, Sika, Reckitt Benckiser and Osram.
More information can be found at: www.globalnature.org/ThreatenedLake2012
Contact:
Global Nature Fund (GNF)
Bettina Schmidt
Fritz-Reichle-Ring 4
78315 Radolfzell, Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 77 32 - 99 95 – 89
Fax: +49 (0) 77 32 - 99 95 – 88
E-mail:
schmidt@globalnature.org
Website:
www.globalnature.org