Enfoque ecosistémico y políticas públicas: aportes para la conservación de la biodiversidad y la adaptación al cambio climático en Latinoamérica

The report examines the challenges of fragmented public policies in Latin America and proposes the Ecosystem Approach—a holistic strategy from the Convention on Biological Diversity—as a framework for integrating biodiversity conservation and climate adaptation. It emphasizes the role of territorial planning (Ordenamiento Territorial) and Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in building resilience, using the Integrated National Adaptation Project (INAP) in Colombia's Chingaza Massif as a practical example of bottom-up implementation.

• Public policies for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in Latin America are often implemented sectorally and are disconnected from other public policies and private sector interests, leading to conflicts and failure to meet Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) goals.
• Climate change is projected to cause significant species loss in Latin America, particularly in cloud forests, tropical dry forests, and coastal/marine wetlands. In the northern tropical Andes, average annual temperatures could increase by 0.73°C per decade, potentially reaching a maximum of 5.8°C by 2080 in some areas.
• By 2050, it is estimated that 50% of agricultural lands in Latin America will have undergone desertification and salinization due to land-use changes and global warming.
• The Ecosystem Approach is a holistic strategy based on 12 principles that integrates biodiversity conservation with socioeconomic development. While it is a mandate for CBD signatories, it remains weakly institutionalized in tropical Andean countries and is primarily applied at the project level rather than by central governments.
• Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) is proposed as a strategy to build resilience and reduce vulnerability by using biodiversity and ecosystem services to help populations adapt to climate impacts, including activities like integrated water management and carbon sequestration.
• Territorial Planning (Ordenamiento Territorial) serves as a spatial platform to harmonize public policies. The report suggests the Adaptive Territorial Ecological Structure (EETA) as a tool to maintain ecosystem functionality and connectivity to ensure long-term ecosystem services.
• The Integrated National Adaptation Project (INAP) in Colombia's Chingaza Massif demonstrates the viability of a bottom-up approach, implementing 'Adaptive Life Plans' at the village level and using the EETA to guide land-use planning in the municipalities of Choachí and La Calera.

APA

Andrade, A., & Vides, R. (n.d.). Enfoque ecosistémico y políticas públicas: aportes para la conservación de la biodiversidad y la adaptación al cambio climático en Latinoamérica. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/06/DE4.pdf

Chicago

Andrade, Angela, and Roberto Vides. Enfoque ecosistémico y políticas públicas: aportes para la conservación de la biodiversidad y la adaptación al cambio climático en Latinoamérica. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, n.d. https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/06/DE4.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Andrade |first1=Angela |last2=Vides |first2=Roberto |title=Enfoque ecosistémico y políticas públicas: aportes para la conservación de la biodiversidad y la adaptación al cambio climático en Latinoamérica |publisher=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |url=https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/06/DE4.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{andradendenfoque, author = {Andrade, Angela and Vides, Roberto}, title = {{Enfoque ecosistémico y políticas públicas: aportes para la conservación de la biodiversidad y la adaptación al cambio climático en Latinoamérica}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, url = {https://iai.int/admin/site/sites/default/files/uploads/2014/06/DE4.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }