Local news

Practical Action has officially opened its new office in Ecuador, focused on helping build sustainable livelihoods and increasing biodiversity.

Women from the provinces of Morona Santiago and Zamora Chinchipe in Ecuador, and from the provinces of Bagua, Condorcanqui, and Datem del Marañón in Peru, are not giving up. They are part of one of the most vulnerable populations on the planet; however, they are working slowly but surely and unstoppably to become part of the spaces from which they have always been excluded, but which they should always have been part of.

At Practical Action, we believe that tackling the climate crisis requires recognizing and strengthening the leadership of indigenous peoples, who are key players in the conservation of the Amazon.

Latin America is home to around 800 Indigenous Peoples, with an estimated population of nearly 58 million people. Today, many of them are facing the direct consequences of deforestation and climate change, which threaten their territories and livelihoods.

In March 2023, the rains brought by Cyclone Yaku devastated more than 24,000 hectares of crops and destroyed nearly 11,500 hectares along Peru’s northern coast, including the regions of Lambayeque and La Libertad.

In a global context of growing demand for sustainable value chains and deforestation-free products, in June 2025, in Lima, Peru, the results of the experience promoting climate incentives for agroforestry systems with coffee were presented.

With the aim of promoting agroforestry and silvopastoral systems in Ecuador, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), Practical Action, and Solidaridad carried out the training module “Ecosystem Services and Technical Approaches to Promote Agroforestry and Silvopastoral Systems.”

The Andean region, located in South America, faces recurrent climate disasters that affect more than half a million people every year. Despite advances in early warning systems, significant challenges remain to take early action and respond effectively to these events. To reduce this gap, the official launch of the Anticipatory Action Initiative, a regional proposal aimed at strengthening capacities for preparedness and anticipatory action against climate hazards in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, took place on 15 April. This initiative promotes the advancement of tools linked to anticipatory action through the integration of early warnings, climate forecasts and available financial resources. It also fosters knowledge sharing in the region through a Community of Practice that also involves Colombia and Venezuela.

Languages are an essential part of culture and the shaping of groups, peoples and nations. They allow us to name the world, to get to know it and recognize it from our understanding, memory and collective experience. Language cuts across history, culture, socio-political and environmental context and their transformations over time. Within the framework of the Indigenous inclusion for informed disaster risk reduction decision-making project, CLEAR Global and Practical Action conducted a socio-linguistic analysis with women and men from the Aymara and Tacana indigenous nations in Bolivia to identify how they understand and express different concepts related to risk management based on their own experience and representations.