About the project

The Metropolitan District of Quito, in the province of Pichincha, Ecuador, has a varied climate, ecosystem, social and productive diversity, which is influenced by its location in the middle of the valleys and mountains of the inter-Andean alley.

However, these important attributes risk being totally or partially affected, as a result of the district's vulnerability to important changes that are occurring in the local climate, including changes to rainfall and temperature. This is why the Metropolitan District of Quito Secretariat of Environment, in order to conserve these attributes while faced with the potential impact of climate change, has been working on the design and implementation of viable measures to reduce the vulnerability of five strategic sectors: water, health, agriculture, ecosystems and risk.

Based on this, the Secretariat of Environment joined with CDKN and the ECOPAR Corporation through the project ‘Piloting climate change adaptation measures in the Metropolitan District of Quito’. The project looked to identify, prioritise, develop and implement - using a participatory and gender-sensitive approach - adaptation measures that help reduce the climate vulnerability of natural and anthropic attributes that benefit the population of the Metropolitan District of Quito.

Objectives: 

• Identify and prioritise a set of technically and economically viable climate adaptation measures, for implementation in two previously identified rural areas in the Metropolitan District of Quito.
• Implement up to two adaptation measures for the populations of the two rural areas of the Metropolitan District of Quito. In addition, to use these model adaptation measures as a pilot project to demonstrate the proof of the concept and use this to generate technical and methodological evidence that can be replicated in other areas of the Metropolitan District of Quito, contributing to an effective example climate change adaptation in the area.
• Increase local and institutional knowledge on the current causes of vulnerability to climate change and the adaptation options available to address such vulnerability in order to develop local planning.

Project funding: £99,701

Implementing organisation: ECOPAR (Corporation for research, training and technical support for sustainable management of tropical ecosystems).

Final products of the project:

• Five Terms of References of adaptation measures prioritised and designed in a participatory manner
• At least one adaptation measure implemented in the territory.

Photo: Lion Hirth (Prissantenbär)