By 2025, one quarter of the watersheds
important for drinking water, irrigation and
hydropower in Colombia, Ecuador, Perú and
Bolivia are protected
Thus will be achieved through creation of:
–Local Water Funds
–New Protected “Water Sanctuaries”
–Reciprocal Watershed Agreements (RWA)

People who produce
water, share it,
people who benefit
from water, share
the benefits

Patricio Roque

Patricio Roque

Francisco Gordillo
Technical Secretary, Regional Water
Fund (FORAGUA), Ecuador

FORAGUA
• A financing mechanism
(water fund) for
municipalities
• Financed by citizens
for the conservation of
water sources of
Ecuador’s cities and
towns

615,000inhabitants of southern Ecuador receive more
abundant, higher quality drinking water (a healthier, more
prosperous population, resilient in the face of climate change).
Water treatment cost savings for municipalities.
Beneficiaries

Technical and financial support to the
watersheds and biodiversity conservation
programs of the municipalities
REGIONAL WATER FUND
Local enterprises
(hydroenergy, banks,
irrigation)
National and International
Corporations/donors
Municipal funds from
water fees
DIRECTORS
5 members selected by board
TECHNICAL
SECRETARY
TRUST BOARD
Municipialities NGOs, Corporations
ANNUAL
INVESTMENT
PLAN
TRUST
10%
90%

Environmental fee
• 93,729 water users
pay $1 per month
(20% of water bill).
• $1,445,000 generated
per year
• This local investment
leverages additional
conservation resouces

217,000 hectares of municipal
reserves created, protecting
fragile, biodiverse ecosystems

28% of Ecuador’s
Municipalities

Renzo Paladines
Director, Naturaleza y Cultura, Ecuador and Peru

Quiroz Water Fund
Financed by the 22,000
irrigators in the San Lorenzo
and Chira Valleys (northern
Perú) to conserve sources of
the Macará, Quiroz and
Chipillico Rivers,
compensating 850 property
owning families in the upper
watersheds of Ayabaca
Province

29,000 hectares of páramo
(moorland) and cloud forest
conserved

Environmental Fee
• Annual support from irrigators: $28,200 USD/year
• Municipality support: $34,000 USD
• Cooperation: $42,000 USD to create the fund

Adolfo Leon Correa
Coordinator, Protected Areas Group,
CORANTIOQUIA, Colombia

• Autonomous Regional
Corporation of Central
Antioquia
• State entity for the
administration of natural
resources and
environmental authority
• 80 municipalities, and 60%
of the Departament of
Antioquia
Protected Areas, Jurisdiction of Corantioquia

10 Natural landscapes to protect the supply of
environmental goods and services
152,000 hectares of new reserves created
DMI del Sistema de
Páramos y Bosques Alto
andinos del Noroccidente
Medio Antioqueño
DMI Cuchilla Jardín –
Támesis
RFPR Farallones Citará PNR Corredor de Las
Alegrías
DMI Cañón río Alicante
DMI Divisoria valle de
Aburrá Río Cauca
DMI Nubes Trocha Capota RFPR Cerro Bravo DMI Ríos Barroso – San Juan DMI Cerro Plateado Alto
San José

Proposed New Water Sanctuaries
Recategorizar el páramo Santa Inés como
Parque Natural Regional
Formular Plan de Manejo para el PNR
Corredor de Las Alegrías
Reserva Forestal Protectora Farallones del
Citará
170,000 hectares in the declaration process

After Protected Area declaration….
Participatory Formulation of a Management Plan
Implementation of Plan
Administration of area to maximise water provision

Social work: reconversion from traditional unsustainable
farming systems to cleaner, more sustainable alternatives
Ecological Restoration of Degraded Paramos

1. DMI Cañón del Río Alicante
2. DMI del SPBANMA
3. DMI de la DVARC
4. DMI CP-ASJ
5. DMI Ríos B-SJ
6. DMI Nubes-Trocha-Capota
7. DMI Cuchilla J-T
8. RFP Farallones del Citará
9. RFP Cerro Bravo
10. PNR Corredor de Las Alegrías
----------------------------------
11. RFP Nare
12. Reserva Bajo Cauca – Nechí*
13. Alto Anorí (Cacica Noría)*
24. Complejo Cenagoso Barbacoas*
25. Alto San Miguel*
26. Recategorización a PNR (Santa Inés)*
----------------------------------
17. PNN Nudo del Paramillo
18. PNN Las Orquídeas1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Connection of
protected areas
around Medellin
the second city
of Colombia

Maria Teresa Vargas
Director, Fundación Natura, Bolivia

Dorotea Arteaga,
Samaipata, Bolivia

Fecal coliforms in
Dorotea Arteaga’s
water
Her water
source is dirty

Reciprocal Watershed Agreement
Dorotea is protecting 11 ha of her forest in exchange for...
600 metres de plastic tubing, 2 bags of cement, 2
rolls of barbed wire, 76 fruit tree seedlings, and….

A water supply
like thisNot like this
Total cost:
$ 300

Fecal coliforms in the
water before the
agreement

NO fecal coliformes after
the agreement
Now Dorotea Arteaga has
water and food
security, and is voluntarily
protecting water, forest,
carbon and wildlife in one
of the most biodiverse
areas of the planet

Reciprocity in action

Local Fund
Water
Development
projects
$ $
Water
Cooperative
Municipal
Gov
$
Upstream
landowners
NGO
Reciprocal
Watershed
Agreements

226,435 water
users

3,147 forest
guardians

Today in Bolivia, there are 31 municipal
water funds, financed by 226,435 downstream
water users, supporting 3,147 upstream
families with bee boxes, fruit tree seedlings,
plastic pipes etc. in exchange for the
conservation of 178,448 ha of biodiverse
forest, which is returning 500,000 m3 of water
to the aquifer and storing 290,000 tons of
carbon

Rafa Calderon
Senior Director, Latin America, Rare

Rare inspires change so people and
nature thrive

Downstream
Users
Landowners working the
land
Upstream
Area to
be
Protected
ARA Concept

The Key Ingredient: “Pride of Place”

~$300,000
local water
funds
~8,000 ha
protected
Over 27,000
ha Improved
Mangement

Adoption Trends

The Star Institutional Team

Adrian Oliva
Governor, Department of Tarija, Bolivia

People who produce
water, share it,
people who benefit
from water, share
the benefits

Adolfo Leon, acorrea@corantioquia.gov.co
Francisco Gordillo, fpgordillo@gmail.com
Maria Teresa Vargas, mteresavargas@naturabolivia.org
Adrian Oliva, waldemarpm@gmail.com
Renzo Paladines, rpaladip@naturalezaycultura.org
Rafael Calderon, rcalderon@rare.org

Ecuador: 615,000 water users generate $1,445,000 in local funds. Inhabitants
receive more abundant, and higher quality drinking water because of the protection
of 74,000 ha.
Peru: 22,000 downstream irrigators annually pay $62,000 to 850 upstream
landowners for watershed conservation in Piura
Bolivia: 226,435 downstream water users support 3,147 upstream families in
exchange for the conservation of 178,448 ha of biodiverse forest. Departmental and
municipal governments have created 928,700 of new protected areas
Colombia: 73,086 of new protected areas in Antioquia, and more than 10,000
ha under Reciprocal Watershed Agreements

By 2025, one quarter of the watersheds
important for drinking water, irrigation and
hydropower in Colombia, Ecuador, Perú and
Bolivia are protected
Thus will be achieved through creation of:
–Municipal Water Funds
–New Protected “Water Sanctuaries”
–Reciprocal Watershed Agreements (RWA)

• Goal 6 target: “protect water-related ecosystems
including mountains, forests (and) rivers”; and
“strengthen participation of local communities in water
management”
• Goal 13 target: “strengthen … adaptive capacity to
climate-related hazards…”
• Goal 15 target: “…ensure the conservation and …
sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater
ecosystems and their services, in particular forests (and)
mountains”, and “promote … sustainable management of
all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded
forests and substantially increase … reforestation”.
Watershared directly supports SDG