Constantino Aucca Chutas’ interest in conservation began more than three decades ago with the fieldwork he did as a biology student in Cusco, Peru.

At the time, the breath-taking slopes of the Peruvian Andes that surrounded the city were under pressure from annual fires, illegal logging and expanding farms.

“Conservation became a necessity,” Aucca said recently during an interview with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). His calling to defend nature grew stronger at the urging of his grandparents, indigenous Quechua farmers. “They told me, look, your name is Aucca, it means warrior. Please try to do something for us farmers.”

Aucca has spent the past 30 years honoring that request and is leading local communities in a push to protect forests across South America, which are critical for fighting climate change and home to unique plant and animal species.

The Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos (ECOAN), which Aucca founded in 2000, has planted more than 3 million trees in Peru and protected or restored 30,000 hectares of land.

For his efforts, Aucca has been named a Champion of the Earth for Inspiration and Action, the United Nations’ highest environmental awards.

Latin America and the Caribbean contain some of the world’s most biodiverse forest ecosystems, yet more than 40 per cent of the region’s forests have been cleared or degraded to make way for mining, agricultural and infrastructure projects.

Aucca’s community-led conservation has helped indigenous communities, a traditionally marginalized group, to secure legal rights to their land and establish protected areas for their native forests.

“Constantino Aucca Chutas’s pioneering work reminds us that indigenous communities are at the forefront of conservation,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “As some of the best custodians of the natural world, their contributions to ecosystem restoration are invaluable and cannot come at a more urgent time for the planet.”

Restoring highland and ‘cloud forests’

The Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos has mobilized thousands of people in Cusco to protect and restore ancient Polylepis forests, which once dominated the high Andes. Growing at up to 5,000 meters above sea level, higher than any forests in the world, these “cloud” trees play a vital role in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss.

They harbor endangered wildlife, store carbon, fix soils and help to capture water from the Andes’ melting glaciers which is then slowly released to farming communities downstream. From their high vantage point, Polylepis forests absorb mist and retain huge amounts of water from clouds, which is gradually discharged through moss cover to keep mountain streams flowing.

Vast areas of the Andes were once covered in Polylepis trees but only 500,000 hectares are left standing today as decades of deforestation for firewood, livestock grazing, logging, mining and roads take their toll. The loss of these mountain forests impacts water scarcity, affecting the lives and livelihoods of millions of people.

To ensure the survival of future generations of indigenous farmers, Aucca’s association organizes tree-planting festivals in Cusco every year. The day begins with ancestral rituals derived from the region’s rich Incan heritage. Musicians blow conch shells and beat drums in honor of nature as villagers make their way up steep mountain trails to plant trees, some carrying bundles of seedlings on their backs – others, babies.

“When we plant a tree, we give something back to Mother Earth. We are convinced that the more trees we plant, the more people will be happy. It’s a celebration, a day of happiness,” Aucca said.

Giving back to local communities

In return for their efforts to restore threatened habitats and conserve birds and other wildlife, local communities receive help from Acción Andina to secure titles to their lands, which provides legal protection against exploitation by timber, mining and oil companies.

Aucca and his team have also created protected areas, brought doctors and dentists to remote mountain villages and provided solar panels and clean-burning clay stoves to communities to improve their quality of life.

Aucca’s vision for ecosystem regeneration goes beyond his native Peru. In 2018, the Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos and U.S. non-profit Global Forest Generation established Acción Andina to scale-up the community-led reforestation model in other Andean countries.

As President and co-founder of Acción Andina, Aucca now oversees plans to protect and restore 1 million hectares of critically important forests in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador, as well as Peru, over the next 25 years with support from Global Forest Generation. His work exemplifies the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration’s call for global action to prevent, halt and reverse ecosystem degradation.

The common good

Studies show that restoring 20 million hectares of degraded ecosystems in the Latin American and Caribbean region could yield US$23 billion in benefits over 50 years. Thriving ecosystems are also essential for keeping global warming below 2°C and helping societies and economies to adapt to climate change.

At the heart of Aucca’s work is his profound connection to his Inca heritage and the Incan principles of “Ayni and Minka,” a deep commitment to work together for the common good, which runs through plans to scale up reforestation in other Andean countries too.

“Once in South America we were the greatest empire, united by one culture, Inca culture,” Aucca said. “It was the first time we all came together. The next time we came together to create a movement was to free ourselves from the Spanish yoke, to seek our independence. Now we’re coming together for the third time. Why? To protect a little tree.”