Networking for water protection at 3800 metres above sea level

By Rebecca Mahler, Communications and Marketing Manager

It takes 24 hours until we arrive at 3,800 m in Puno, Peru. The city of about 130,000 inhabitants lies in the middle of the Andes on Lake Titicaca, the highest lake in the world. The air is thin and we move slowly for the first few days. With a slight headache and some soup we adapt to the altitude in order to be fit for the 16th Living Lakes Conference. Fortunately, the whole GNF team, consisting of our president Marion Hammerl, CEO Udo Gattenlöhner, Project Leader Dr. Thomas Schäfer and Project Managers Alena Hayer and David Marchetti and myself, remain healthy. Project Manager Katharina Gehrig, who joins us a short time later, is also prepared for the altitude.

Lake Titicaca

It is the first Living Lakes Conference in South America. The organisation ALT is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) with the project "Living Lakes - Biodiversity and Climate Project". The location is magical and a special challenge for the 158 participants from 33 organisations from 30 countries.

The first day is dedicated to the members

The General Assembly is ceremoniously opened by Marion Hammerl. Afterwards, the new members of the Living Lakes Network are welcomed and introduce themselves. Among them are Environmental and Tourism Ed Organization from Tanzania, ecoDevshilt NGO from Mongolia, Fundación Red de Nuevas Ideas from Chile or ECOA from Brazil. It is nice to see the network growing. This is followed by some presentations on different strategies how the organisations try to protect their home lakes and wetlands. After a joint lunch, the afternoon is used to exchange ideas in working groups and to find new ways and ideas together. The first day could go on endlessly. The deeper we dive into the topics, the more exciting it gets. You can feel it, we want to change something together.

Day one of the conference

We set off early from the hotel to the conference hall. The organisers Thomas, David and Alena are slightly tense. They have a lot of work into the preparations and now want everything to go perfectly. And apart from a few minor things, it does. The lectures and talk sessions are great. As a newcomer to the NGO and LL world, I am fascinated by what the different organisations are doing, how they are doing it and what they have already achieved. I am impressed and grateful that these people exist who work tirelessly to preserve our lakes and wetlands. During the breaks, I can hardly wait to exchange ideas with everyone individually. At dinner, followed by a handicrafts market and fashion show with dancing, I get to know the individual characters even better.

After this first day, it is clear that at 3,800 metres above sea level, one has to take things a little more calmly and slowly. It will be a strenuous but exciting week.

The excursion

The more than 150 participants split up into several boats that set off directly from the pier at the hotel. We head out onto Lake Titicaca. The sun is shining intensely, but we enjoy the trip on the water with exciting and funny stories from the other participants. First we go to the islands of the Urus, an indigenous population of Peru, which we visit. They explain to us exactly how the floating islands are built, how they live there and we marvel at their beautiful handmade art.

We continue and visit another indigenous group living on the shores of Lago Titicaca. As the rain has not been coming for a long time, they have prepared a traditional rain ceremony for us. For a moment it becomes quiet and the group pauses. A devotional moment in which we all hope for rain for the inhabitants. We thank them, board the buses and continue our journey ashore.

After a simple but delicious lunch, we continue to the Sillustani tombs. The large stone buildings stand on a mountain, which we climb slowly, bit by bit. The guide stops again and again on the way and explains the history of this special place to us. On the hill, the highlight of the entire day awaits us, a breathtaking view of Lago Umayo. The effort was worth it.

Tired but happy, we take the bus back to the hotel and end the day with dinner together.

Last day of the conference

You can see that we are a little tired, but everyone is looking forward to the last day of the conference. There will be more exciting lectures, honours for particularly committed people and, to round it all off, a banquet with a small party. In the meantime, we have grown together as a network and the personal experiences of the last days give us a feeling of belonging that we would never have achieved online. After only three months at GNF, I feel part of something bigger, something wonderful.

After a last day dedicated to the IKI LLBC project to clarify both content and organisational issues, we still have some time to look around Puno and bring home one or two homemade souvenirs. It is a wonderful last day, which we enjoy in the sun before we start the long journey home. With new ideas, great contacts, fresh energy and wonderful memories that I will cherish, I board the plane and say goodbye to this unique place in the Andes.