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“Minga” for the sustainable development of mountains in Ecuador

19.10.2022

On 13 September 2022, the Community of Practice Minga de la Montaña (Minga of the Mountain) was launched in Latacunga, Ecuador, with the participation of 120 people.

Minga is a tradition of several Indigenous Peoples of South America that stands for community and collaborative work for purposes of social utility or of a reciprocal nature. The objective of the initiative is to contribute to a cooperative, balanced and effective sustainable management of mountain landscapes in Ecuador and the well-being of the people that call the mountains home. It seeks to create synergies and collaboration, offer a space for exchange, provide accessible digital tools, and generate technical and practical outputs to inform public policies based on shared experiences.

During the development of the initiative, stakeholders identified various topics of interest, such as the promotion of sustainable productive activities; the conservation, restoration and management of mountain landscapes; climate change adaptation and mitigation; and the challenges of extractive activities such as mining.

Minga de la Montaña works through three types of activities. First, there will be local mingas in different territories facilitated by local actors. At national level, there will be an inter-institutional technical table that meets regularly to provide inputs to public policies based on best practices. Finally, there will be two annual editions of the Mountain Fair (virtual and in person), which will include discussions and debates as well as promote the products and services of mountain producers.

Within the initiative's start-up activities, three local mingas and one mountain fair are planned for 2022. Likewise, the group of institutions supporting this pioneering initiative in the Andes is implementing a communication strategy to involve more people, programmes and institutions.

Minga de la Montaña is led by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition of Ecuador with the technical advice of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ)'s Mountain Programme, the Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Andean Ecoregion (CONDESAN), Conservation International (CI), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Quito Water Fund (FONAG).

Read the full story by CONDESAN