Guardianes de la Cuenca is a program that develops strategies to ensure access to information, participation, and environmental justice to strengthen the conservation of glacier landscapes in El Chaltén.
The program combines monitoring of public policies and advocacy initiatives for the conservation of one of the world’s largest solid freshwater reserves. We develop strategies to implement the Regional Escazú Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation, and Environmental Justice in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Since 2023, Guardianes de la Cuenca has brought the concerns of environmental defenders to the local agenda and promotes institutional transparency, fostering participatory water management and environmental justice.
Guardianes de la Cuenca advances transparent water governance and environmental justice through the collective development of proposals, the visibility of local socio-environmental conflicts and injustices, and the dissemination of information about environmental rights and the Escazú Agreement.
We build and make information visible to the community.
From Boana we want to facilitate the dissemination of public information on the environment and rebalance the current balance of power, offering new spaces to the community of El Chaltén to ensure that their socio-environmental rights are being respected.
We monitor public policies in order to ensure the implementation of prior consultation mechanisms. Through the mobilization of legal tools to access information and ensure participation in environmental issues, we compile fundamental information to understand the impacts of hydroelectric projects and tourism infrastructure within the protected areas.
We seek to highlight the need for transparent coordination between actors to solve the socio-environmental problems of the watershed in relation to water management.
We promote good water management practices
Individual and collective actions are necessary to consolidate the defense of the common good and reconfigure our relationship with this element.
Boana creates spaces for dialogue to promote the emergence of good practices. We disseminate inspiring actions to be able to think about a desirable future around the protection of aquatic ecosystems.
Supporting environmental justice
We provide support to environmental lawsuits by facilitating information, coordinating and seeking international cases to consolidate the recognition of socio-environmental rights.
We actively support the collective environmental protection of the Fitz Roy and Las Vueltas Rivers by mobilizing citizens, requesting information and calling for the cessation of contamination.
We accompany local legal innovations, promoting the concrete implementation of ecocentric rights recently recognized by provincial judicial authorities.
Citizen monitoring through the app
We created a citizen monitoring device to allow reporting situations of environmental risk or direct threats to the waters of the region. Download the app ArcGis Survey 123 or Click here to join the Cuenca Guardians network. Once installed, scan the QR code or click the link above again.
If you have any questions, consult our tutorial or download the instructions.
