Queuña Raymi
The festival for planting more trees of queuñas in only one day
The Association for Andean Ecosystems– ECOAN, its strategic partner American Bird Conservancy - ABC, and 21 peasant communities from the central part of the Vilcanota Mountain Range, since the year 2000, started the conservation of these Polylepis forests (queuña) through different conservation strategies, including: reforestation and afforestation with native species, as a part of sustainability and tourist services that exist in these areas.
Since the year 2000 to date, more than one million two hundred thousand seedlings (saplings and cuttings) of Polylepis have been afforested and reforested.
In 2014 thanks to the involvement of the private company led by Paul Cripps and his firm Amazonas Explorer and others, in coordination with ECOAN and the network of ACPs, the “Queuña Raymi” or the festivity that allows planting a larger number of seedlings of queuña (Polylepis sp.) in a single day is created, with the participation of local communities. It is a native tree that grows in extreme environmental and atmospheric conditions, key to protect the headwaters of the basin and all the biodiversity that survives in these forests and Andean wetlands.
The peasant families that live along the Vilcanota Mountain Range, from the beginning became the main allies of conservation and for many years lived from the forest using it as a source of firewood, construction material, input of medicinal plants, places of grazing and self-consumption agriculture. Today, local communities respect the forests and are committed to restoring them. Thus, all environmental services will return to their natural state.
The trees planted before and with the Queuña Raymi will help to protect the headwaters of basins, to minimize the effects of climate change, to restore the habitats in danger of extinction in the Andes of the central part of the Vilcanota Mountain Range, and to give all of us a great hope of life and health. We hope your contribution and collaboration to continue fulfilling this challenge.
