The Phinaya community is located 4,830 metres above sea level. Is the highest town near the glacier Quelccaya in Cusco, Peru.
Alpacas grazing in wetlands produced by the melting of the glacier Quelccaya in Cusco, Peru.
‘The cold waves are much harder to bear now, getting lower because of climate change. There is almost no rain, there is no water, the animals die, it is worrying in the heights of the Andes’, says Salome (61), one of the community elders, posing for a portrait at his cabin in Cusco, Peru.
Exaltacion Chuquichampi (58) holds ice detached from the tropical glacier Quelccaya in Cusco, Peru.
One of the consequences of climate change is displacement. People migrate after very cold temperatures, droughts and floods, leaving communities with fewer inhabitants and a loss of ancestral Andean Knowledge in Cusco, Peru.
Teresa Mendoza (46) observes the retreat of the Quelccaya glacier, where she used to play as a child in Cusco, Peru.
Glaciers function as vast aquifer reservoirs, continually releasing water as they melt. The people living downstream use this water for drinking and basic hygiene, as well as to irrigate their fields and maintain the wetlands where their alpacas and llamas graze in Cusco, Peru.
Two alpaca breeders make an offering with coca leaves as a symbol of respect and in order to balance the damage done by man to the ‘pachamama’ (Mother Earth in the Quechua language) in Cusco, Peru.
Water harvesting is a way to adapt to climate change, it consists of storing water in
small lagoons or qochas (in Quechua), creating reserves for times of drought.
Domitila Cono (30) takes care of ‘Rafaelito’, a six- week-old orphaned sheep. Due to the frost caused by climate change, many animals do not survive in the high altitudes of the Peruvian Andes in Cusco, Peru.
A shepherd shears an alpaca, the sale of alpaca fiber is the main economic activity in the high altitudes of the Andes.
Yolanda Quispe (41) works as a park ranger, protecting and monitoring the Quelccaya. She recounts a legend told to her by her ancestors in the community. A homeless old man came asking for food and water at a wedding celebration in the community, but was kicked out because of his appearance. However, one woman helped him and the old man told her: ‘Go upstairs with your animals and don’t look back’. Loud noises followed and snow began to fall, flooding the entire town as punishment and creating the Sibinacocha lagoon, the most important in Cusco, Peru.
‘I remember the peak was huge. It looked beautiful, but now everything is gone. There isn’t much snow left, so what are we going to do when the snow has gone? We will run out of water’. Quelccaya is currently receding at a rate of 60 metres (195 feet) a year, and could disappear in the next 30 years in Cusco, Peru.
Workers rest after cleaning an oil spill caused by abnormal waves, triggered by a massive underwater volcanic eruption in Tonga, off the coast of Ancon, Peru
Workers clean up an oil spill in Ancon, Peru
A worker holds a dead fish due to the oil spill in Ancon, Peru.
Workers clean up an oil spill in Ancon, Peru
Workers clean up an oil spill at the beach as demonstrators take part in a protest outside Repsol’s La Pampilla refinery against the recent oil spill that has caused an ecological disaster on the coasts of Ancon, Peru
A Worker cleans an oil spill caused by abnormal waves, triggered by a massive underwater volcanic eruption in Tonga, off the coast of Ancon, Peru
Workers clean up rocks contaminated by oil spill in Ancon, Peru.
Workers walk towards the beaches affected by the oil spill in Ancon, Peru.
A worker gestures as he and colleagues clean an oil spill in Ancon, Peru
Yovana Chuquichampi worships the snow-capped Quelccaya, once the largest tropical glacier on the planet. This snowy mountain is retreating 60 m per year, and studies show that it will disappear in the next 30 years if global greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced.
Teresa Mendoza (46) and Agustin Gutierrez (67) are dedicated to raising alpacas. The sale of their fibre is the main livelihood of the people of the community of Phinaya in Cusco, Peru. Peru has the largest number of alpacas (85 %) in the world. However, due to climate change, the breeding of these camelids is becoming more difficult due to frost, drought and scarcity of pasture.
The Peruvian flag is hoisted at a camp of the indigenous community of Huancuire near the Las Bambas copper mine as part of a protest to demand the land they call ancestral lands, to be returned to the communities, in Apurimac, Peru
Due to the drinking water being contaminated with high levels of heavy metals such as arsenic, children in the Ayacucho region are developing multiple diseases, including leukemia.
A herd of sheep in the peasant community of Huancane near the Glencore Antapaccay mining camp in Cusco, Peru
Exaltacion Chuquichampi (left) and Yovana Chuquichampi submerge their hands in the Sibinacocha lagoon as a ritual. The lagoon is 4,860 m above sea level, and the water is of glacial origin, coming from the snow-capped Quelccaya mountain in Cusco, Peru. It is currently a protected area, as it is considered a world thermometer,where the relationship between global warming and glacier melting is being investigated.
View of the Apumayo open pit gold mine in the community of Chaviña, Ayacucho, Peru. The main disadvantages of this type of mining is the environmental impact it causes: it damages the earth’s surface, changes the shape of its crust, pollutes the groundwater and the air with toxic dust, and causes the formation of a large amount of dust.
A sheep killed as a result of contamination from the mining corridor road in Chumbivilcas, Cusco, Peru.
“For a long time, governments have promised to solve our problems, but nothing has changed,” says Ccalla in Quechua as she cooks in her home in the community of Carata, one of the places affected by pollution in Puno, Peru.
Protesters clash with police officers during an anti-government demonstration following the ouster of Peru’s former President Pedro Castillo, in Lima, Peru
Edith Prado holds a photograph of her brother Edgar Prado who died after suffering a fatal gunshot wound on the day of the protests following the ouster of former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, in Ayacucho, Peru.
People walk on the roads due to blockades by anti-government protests in Cusco, Peru.
A demonstrator uses a sling while clashing with riot police during the ‘Take over Lima’ march to demonstrate against Peru’s President Dina Boluarte in Lima, Peru.
A witness shows a photograph with bullet casings percuted by the police after ten people died during a protest in Ayacucho, Peru.
A woman waves a black version of the Peruvian flag as a symbol of mourning for those killed during protests against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte in Lima, Peru.
A riot police officer kicks a tear gas grenade during the ‘Take over Lima’ march to demonstrate against Peru’s President Dina Boluarte in Lima, Peru
Peasant communities block the Urcos bridge during anti-government protests in Cusco, Peru
Riot police officers take cover during the ‘Take over Lima’ march to demonstrate against Peru’s President Dina Boluarte in Lima, Peru
Felix de la Cruz Sulca, fue asesinado a la edad de 3 años durante la masacre de Accomarca en 1985, su madre observa su retrato durante la entrega de restos en Ayacucho, Perú.
Familiares se despiden del ataúd de una de las víctimas de la masacre de Accomarca en Ayacucho, Perú.
Velorio de los restos óseos de 36 de las 69 víctimas en la iglesia de local de Accomarca. La masacre ocurrio el 14 de agosto de 1985 por agentes del Ejército peruano en Ayacucho, Perú
Familiares identifican los restos y prendas de una de las personas asesinadas en 1985 en Ayacucho, Perú.
