Photo: © ALT
From 06. The 16th Living Lakes Conference took place in Puno, Peru, on the shores of Lake Titicaca from December 1 to 8
158 participants from 30 countries discussed possibilities for sustainable lake and wetland protectionIn the final declaration of the conference, environmentalists worldwide call for increased efforts to protect precious ecosystemsThe participants of the 16th Living Lakes Conference on an excursion in Sillustani near Lake Titicaca.
Radolfzell, 23.12.2022: After a corona break over the past two years, the international environmental foundation Global Nature Fund (GNF) was finally able to hold an event at the beginning of the month that traditionally brings together the members of the global Living Lakes network on a special body of water: the Living Lakes Conference. The 16th edition of the event in Puno, Peru, was about nothing less than a viable perspective for international lake and wetland protection in the 21st century.
On the shores of Lake Titicaca, which borders both Peru and Bolivia, the participants spent three days discussing ways out of the crisis in the world’s water ecosystems. The event was hosted by GNF and the Peruvian nature conservation organization ALT (Binational Autonomous Authority of Lake Titicaca). The conference was held as a kick-off event for the Living Lakes Biodiversity and Climate Project LLBCP, funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, in the context of which the GNF and its partners will implement biodiversity conservation and climate protection measures in twelve countries over the next five years.
Global lighthouse for indispensable water ecosystems
“More than 85 percent of the world’s lakes and wetlands have been lost in the past three centuries, and the rate of loss has increased dramatically in recent decades ,” says Dr. Thomas Schaefer, Head of Nature Conservation & Living Lakes at GNF. “This is much faster than, for example, the tropical rainforest, which is talked about much more – although water ecosystems have indispensable functions for the preservation of an intact environment and also play a decisive role in the fight against climate change. We are happy that so many partners from the Living Lakes network accepted our invitation to Lake Titicaca to give these topics the space they deserve. Our conference is intended to be something of a global beacon for lake protection. And it came at exactly the right time, because at LLC 16 we were able to take up the impetus from COP 15 in Montreal, which was taking place at the same time, with regard to the poor situation of lakes worldwide.”
Joint declaration on lake protection
158 participants from 33 Living Lakes partner organizations from 30 countries came together in a special atmosphere at Lake Andes at an altitude of over 3,800 metres. Despite the challenging mountain air, the atmosphere was good, the program was packed and the objective was clear: constructive exchange with input from different regions of the world and the development of a “roadmap” for effective global lake and wetland protection that will take effect in the coming years.
The “Declaration of Lake Titicaca 2022” adopted by all participants is exactly that: The Living Lakes Conference calls on political decision-makers, but also on citizens worldwide, to make a determined commitment to, among other things, a sustainable socio-political framework for lake and wetland protection, the establishment of a World Water Fund, the reduction of microplastics in inland waters and the expansion of organic agriculture in the catchment area of water ecosystems. Many of the aspects addressed in the declaration also play a decisive role in the new GNF project LLBCP.
Download the Declaration of Lake Titicaca 2022 and the presentations given at the conference
Find out more about the Living Lakes Biodiversity and Climate Project LLBCP
Contact us
Global Nature Fund
Dr. Thomas Schaefer
Head of Living Lakes & Nature Conservation
Fritz-Reichle-Ring 4
78315 Radolfzell, Germany
Phone: +49 7732 9995 85
Fax: +49 7732 9995 88
E-mail: schaefer@globalnature.org
Website: www.globalnature.org