Papers by Mariana Montoya
River flows connect people, places, and other forms of life, inspiring and sustaining diverse cul... more River flows connect people, places, and other forms of life, inspiring and sustaining diverse cultural beliefs, values, and ways of life. The concept of environmental flows provides a framework for improving understanding of relationships between river flows and people, and for supporting those that are mutually beneficial. Nevertheless, most approaches to determining environmental flows remain grounded in the biophysical sciences. The newly revised Brisbane Declaration and Global Action Agenda on Environmental Flows (2018) represents a new phase in environmental flow science and an opportunity to better consider the co-constitution of river flows, ecosystems, and society, and to more explicitly incorporate these relationships into river management. We synthesize understanding of relationships between people and rivers as conceived under the renewed definition of environmental flows. We present case studies from Honduras, India, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia that illustrate multidisciplinary, collaborative efforts where recognizing and meeting diverse flow needs of human populations was central to establishing environmental flow recommendations. We also review a small body of literature to highlight examples of the diversity and interdependencies of human-flow relationships-such as the linkages between river flow and human well-being, spiritual needs, cultural identity, and sense of place-that are typically overlooked when environmental flows are assessed and negotiated. Finally, we call for scientists and water managers to recognize the diversity of ways of knowing, relating to, and utilizing rivers, and to place this recognition at the center of future environmental flow assessments.
Nature Communications, 2019
Hundreds of dams have been proposed throughout the Amazon basin, one of the world's largest untap... more Hundreds of dams have been proposed throughout the Amazon basin, one of the world's largest untapped hydropower frontiers. While hydropower is a potentially clean source of renewable energy, some projects produce high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per unit electricity generated (carbon intensity). Here we show how carbon intensities of proposed Amazon upland dams (median = 39 kg CO 2 eq MWh −1 , 100-year horizon) are often comparable with solar and wind energy, whereas some lowland dams (median = 133 kg CO 2 eq MWh −1) may exceed carbon intensities of fossil-fuel power plants. Based on 158 existing and 351 proposed dams, we present a multi-objective optimization framework showing that low-carbon expansion of Amazon hydropower relies on strategic planning, which is generally linked to placing dams in higher elevations and smaller streams. Ultimately, basin-scale dam planning that considers GHG emissions along with social and ecological externalities will be decisive for sustainable energy development where new hydropower is contemplated.
Despite large-scale infrastructure development, deforestation, mining and petroleum exploration i... more Despite large-scale infrastructure development, deforestation, mining and petroleum exploration in the Amazon Basin, relatively little attention has been paid to the management scale required for the protection of wetlands, fisheries and other aspects of aquatic ecosystems. This is due, in part, to the enormous size, multinational composition and interconnected nature of the Amazon River system, as well as to the absence of an adequate spatial model for integrating data across the entire Amazon Basin. In this data article we present a spatially uniform multi-scale GIS framework that was developed especially for the analysis, management and monitoring of various aspects of aquatic systems in the Amazon Basin. The Amazon GIS-Based River Basin Framework is accessible as an ESRI geodatabase at doi:10.5063/F1BG2KX8.
Hundreds of dams have been proposed throughout the Amazon basin, one of the world's largest untap... more Hundreds of dams have been proposed throughout the Amazon basin, one of the world's largest untapped hydropower frontiers. While hydropower is a potentially clean source of renewable energy, some projects produce high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per unit electricity generated (carbon intensity). Here we show how carbon intensities of proposed Amazon upland dams (median = 39 kg CO 2 eq MWh −1 , 100-year horizon) are often comparable with solar and wind energy, whereas some lowland dams (median = 133 kg CO 2 eq MWh −1 ) may exceed carbon intensities of fossil-fuel power plants. Based on 158 existing and 351 proposed dams, we present a multi-objective optimization framework showing that lowcarbon expansion of Amazon hydropower relies on strategic planning, which is generally linked to placing dams in higher elevations and smaller streams. Ultimately, basin-scale dam planning that considers GHG emissions along with social and ecological externalities will be decisive for sustainable energy development where new hydropower is contemplated.
USAID Progress Report. Strengthening protected area effective management in Peru. Report period : July - September 2003
Este informe da cuenta de los avances alcanzados durante el período de dos años, en el marco del ... more Este informe da cuenta de los avances alcanzados durante el período de dos años, en el marco del proyecto de apoyo a las Reservas Naturales de Paracas y Pacaya Samiria. A fin de poder monitorear el impacto del Proyecto, la WWF - PPO desarrolló indicadores biológicos a aplicarse en estas dos reservas plasmados en un herramienta de Scorecard, que permitirá monitorear el impacto de los programas de conservación a través de las instituciones como: Asociación Peruana de Conservación (APECO), ProNaturaleza, Consejo Nacional para el Medioambiente (CONAM) e INRENA. Además otro de los componentes del apoyo fueron la solución de conflictos de tráfico de tierras y las demarcaciones fronterizas con las reservas naturales las que le corresponde resolver a el INRENA, en cuyos casos la WWF dejó instrucciones específicas. La Reserva Nacional de Paracas recibió un soporte considerable, en parte para la actualización del Plan Maestro de Conservación y un plan de financiamiento sostenible, las cuales ...
Participatory Research with Children for Environmental Justice in East Austin
Sustainability of natural resource use for an Amazonian indigenous group
Regional Environmental Change, 2013
ABSTRACT This research examines how the Kandozi indigenous group governs access to fish and timbe... more ABSTRACT This research examines how the Kandozi indigenous group governs access to fish and timber for sale and evaluates their perceptions of sustainability of those natural resources. The Kandozi occupy a biodiverse tropical forest in the northern Peruvian Amazon with lakes and seasonally flooded areas. Qualitative methods and a comparative examination of access to resources were used to explore current processes that shape access and the people’s perceptions of their benefit from natural resources. Results indicated that environmental heterogeneity, kinship, land tenure, the legal framework, and knowledge all shaped access with some differences due to the dissimilar natures of fish and timber. This research concludes that the sustainability of this and similar systems are dependent upon the moment at which the analysis is done, because of the changing needs of people over time, in addition to changes in external factors and the natural variations that occur in the resources used. The range of relations and interactions among different processes that shape access, and the historically contingent characteristic of access and its evolution over time, help better understand the complexity of a given social-ecological system.
Beyond parks and reserves: The ethics and politics of conservation with a case study from Perú
Biological Conservation, 2011
ABSTRACT This paper elaborates, analyzes, and partly defends the normative and empirical foundati... more ABSTRACT This paper elaborates, analyzes, and partly defends the normative and empirical foundations of a “social ecology” model for natural habitat and resource management. This model treats human societies as being irreducibly integrated with the natural systems in which they are embedded. It argues that any concept of biodiversity necessarily embodies cultural values for it to be operationalized for conservation decisions. It accepts the legitimacy of tradeoffs between biodiversity conservation and other values including human resource development. It prioritizes local control of decisions in regions which are often targeted by Northern conservationists: areas of the South, where cultural choices have led to the persistence of high biodiversity. This model is used to analyze an ongoing dispute over biodiversity conservation and natural resource control in Perú: the conflict over Kandozi territory in the Abanico del Pastaza. What the Kandozi want is more than just a rejection of what has been criticized as the national park/fortress model of conservation. It consists of an assertion of local institutionalized control over traditional lands which goes well beyond the purview of the usual alternative of the fortress model: the biosphere reserve model of external and internal joint control of natural resources. To the remarkable extent that Kandozi resource management practices have succeeded in maintaining biotic richness and variety in spite of multiple encroachments, the empirical evidence demands that today’s conservationists pay adequate attention to these practices and the social institutions in which they are embedded. But, beyond such prudential concerns, the social ecology model of habitat conservation accepts the normative claims that resident communities should have control over their lands and livelihoods and that they should be allowed to maintain their habitats as cultural landscapes of their choice.
Challenges and Opportunities for Co-Management of a Migratory Fish (Prochilodus nigricans) in the Peruvian Amazon
American Fisheries …, 2009
... ALDO SOTO AND HERNÁN FLORES WWF-Peru Programme Office Trinidad Morán 853, Lima 14 Perú, Apa... more ... ALDO SOTO AND HERNÁN FLORES WWF-Peru Programme Office Trinidad Morán 853, Lima 14 Perú, Apartado Postal: 11-0205 MICHAEL MCCLAIN Global Water for Sustainability Program, Department of Environmental Studies Florida International University, Miami ...
Natural resources in the subsoil and social conflicts on the surface: Perspectives on Peru's subsurface political ecology
Subterranean Struggles: New Dynamics of Mining, Oil, and Gas in Latin America, Sep 2013
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Papers by Mariana Montoya