Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-12 (section)

=== 12.6.1 Nature-based Solutions in Quito, Ecuador ===

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NbS are related to the maintenance, enhancement and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems as a means of addressing multiple concerns simultaneously ( [[#Kabisch--2016|Kabisch et al., 2016]] ). NbS can trigger sustainability transitions. For example, the conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems are prone to promote synergy between mitigation, adaptation and sustainable development. EbA can be seen as a type of NbS deployed in response to climate-change vulnerability and risk ( [[#Greenwalt--2018|Greenwalt et al., 2018]] ), combining the objectives of reducing the vulnerability of human systems and increasing the resilience of natural systems ( [[#IPCC--2014|IPCC, 2014]] ).

The Municipal Quito District in Ecuador covers 4235 km 2 of mountainous territory that ranges from 500 to 5000 MASL. That territory has followed a pattern of urbanisation common in Latin America: its population has increased from around 500,000 people in the 1970s to nearly 3 million inhabitants by 2020, of which 80% live in urban areas ( [[#Municipio%20del%20Distrito%20Metropolitano%20de%20Quito--2016|Municipio del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito, 2016]] ). A massive inflow of people immigrated in the early 1970s due to various causes, including the search for the rents created as a result of the oil boom in the Ecuadorian Amazon, better working conditions, health, education and cultural services, in comparison with the rural areas or in mid-sized cities. As a result, the city underwent exponential growth, claiming valuable agricultural and forestry areas, as well as natural ecosystems, in the peripheries. Many of the new neighbourhoods were established through land invasions or informal markets, in many cases over steep slopes, in water sources and agricultural or conservation areas ( ''high confidence'' ) ( [[#Cuvi--2015|Cuvi, 2015]] ; [[#Gómez%20Salazar--2016|Gómez Salazar and Cuvi, 2016]] ). That exponential population growth, coupled with urban sprawl, poses many challenges to the city, including those related to climate change.

Mean air temperature and annual rainfall (measured by instruments since 1891 and inferred through historical records of rogation ceremonies since 1600), are increasing, combined with an increase in seasonality (i.e., longer periods of drought) and extreme weather events, particularly higher levels of precipitation ( [[#Serrano%20Vincenti--2017|Serrano Vincenti et al., 2017]] ; Domínguez- [[#Castro--2018|Castro et al., 2018]] ). Two impacts related to warmer air conditions are the displacement of the freezing line currently placed at 5100 MASL ( [[#Basantes-Serrano--2016|Basantes-Serrano et al., 2016]] ), followed by glacier retreat and the upward displacement of mountainous ecosystems ( ''very high confidence'' ) ( [[#Vuille--2018|Vuille et al., 2018]] ; [[#Cuesta--2019|Cuesta et al., 2019]] ). The key ecosystem that regulates water provision for the city is the paramo, and only about 5% of this process is related to glaciers, so the combined effects of climate change on both systems, coupled with land use change and fires, can reduce the availability of water for agriculture, human consumption and hydropower. Other important climatic hazards and impacts are the increase of solar radiation, the heat island effect and fires ( ''high confidence'' ) ( [[#Anderson--2011|Anderson et al., 2011]] ; [[#Armenteras--2020|Armenteras et al., 2020]] ; [[#Ranasinghe--2021|Ranasinghe et al., 2021]] ). On almost half of the days of each year, Quito’s population is exposed to levels of UV radiation above 11 according to the World Health Organization scale ( [[#Municipio%20del%20Distrito%20Metropolitano%20de%20Quito--2016|Municipio del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito, 2016]] ).

Various policies, programmes and projects have been created for the promotion of urban green spaces, protected areas, water source and watershed monitoring, conservation and ecosystem restoration, air pollution monitoring and control and urban agriculture. Among those actions, three recent ones are commonly highlighted. The first is the FONAG, established in 2000 with funds from national and international organisations to promote the protection of the water basins that supply most of the drinking water. It is a PES scheme enabled through a public–private escrow. The projects include conservation, ecological restoration and environmental education for a new culture of water, in a context opposed to the commodification of natural resources ( [[#Kauffman--2014|Kauffman, 2014]] ; [[#Bremer--2016|Bremer et al., 2016]] ; Coronel T, 2019). FONAG was innovative in the use of trust funds in a voluntary, decentralised mechanism and has inspired more than 21 other water funds in the region; nevertheless, its narrative of success has also been said to oversimplify and misrepresent some complex interactions between stakeholders as well as within communities and their land management practices ( [[#Joslin--2019|Joslin, 2019]] ).

The second highlighted initiative is the AGRUPAR (Participatory Urban Agriculture) programme, launched as a public initiative in 2002 initially with international cooperation funds. It was aimed at providing assistance to poorer urban and peri-urban populations, to initiate and manage orchards as well as domestic animals such as chickens and guinea pigs, with the goal of promoting self-sustenance and commerce. AGRUPAR provides and finances training, seeds and seedlings, greenhouses, certifications and marketing support and spaces where farmers can sell directly their products to consumers. In 2016, AGRUPAR gave assistance to more than 4000 farmers managing orchards of various scales that combined produce, more than 500 tonnes annually. The programme has direct impacts on nutrition, generation of work for women, production of healthy food, reduction of runoff, recycling of organic waste and social cohesion, among others ( ''very high confidence)'' ( [[#Thomas--2014|Thomas, 2014]] ; [[#Cuvi--2015|Cuvi, 2015]] ; [[#Rodríguez-Dueñas--2016|Rodríguez-Dueñas and Rivera, 2016]] ; [[#Clavijo%20Palacios--2017|Clavijo Palacios and Cuvi, 2017]] ).

A third initiative is the creation of a municipal system of protected areas, locally named Áreas de Conservación y Uso Sustentable (ACUS). This system covers an area of 1320 km², nearly a third of the Municipal Quito District. Half of this landscape (680 km 2 ) is covered by montane forests and paramos ( [[#Torres--2019|Torres and Peralvo, 2019]] ). These forests provide direct water, food and fibres for about 20,000 people and indirectly a rural landscape for a growing number of urban citizens and foreign tourists that practice ecotourism and look for fresh and healthy food. During the last three decades, this area has witnessed a high density of public and private conservation and restoration efforts that aim to regain ecological integrity and improve human well-being in deforested and degraded landscapes ( [[#Mansourian--2017|Mansourian, 2017]] ; [[#Zalles--2018|Zalles, 2018]] ; [[#Wiegant--2020|Wiegant et al., 2020]] ). Quito’s system of protected areas constitutes a primary strategy for fostering links between urban and rural citizens as a means of understanding the ecological dependence of urban metropolises to their surrounding natural landscapes. Along the same lines, these areas constitute a key element to increase the adaptive capacity of rural livelihoods and contribute to mitigating climate change through landscape restoration, sustainable production and forest conservation ( ''high confidence'' ).

Other NbS actions include the restoration of small basins, locally called quebradas, under different schemes of management and participation ( ''medium evidence, very high agreement'' ) ( [[#da%20Cruz%20e%20Sousa--2018|da Cruz e Sousa and Ríos-Touma, 2018]] ) and the transformation since 2013 of a large portion of the old Quito airport into an urban park. Nevertheless, Quito city continues to face challenges in the social, economic, infrastructural and environmental spheres. A major pending environmental issue is air pollution; a high level of pollutants affects the city in general and especially the most vulnerable groups ( ''high confidence'' ) ( [[#Zalakeviciute--2018|Zalakeviciute et al., 2018]] ; [[#Alvarez-Mendoza--2019|Alvarez-Mendoza et al., 2019]] ; [[#Estrella--2019|Estrella et al., 2019]] ; [[#Hernandez--2019|Hernandez et al., 2019]] ; [[#Rodríguez-Guerra--2019|Rodríguez-Guerra and Cuvi, 2019]] ). Another major issue is the continuous sprawl of new neighbourhoods, mainly through informal processes, that diminish urban resilience because of the destruction of conservation and food production areas, sources of water and the dispersion of settlements without primary services, among other consequences ( [[#Gómez%20Salazar--2016|Gómez Salazar and Cuvi, 2016]] ).

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