Rios Vivos Andinos: Region-wide collaboration for conservation of free-flowing rivers

There is an urgent need to herald the importance of free-flowing rivers to human and ecosystem wellbeing in the tropical Andes. Transformations in the Andean landscape¿from new infrastructure, deforestation, mining, or climate change¿threaten to compromise river flows critical for human and ecosystem wellbeing. River dependent species, ecosystems, and human populations are the conservation targets and fundamental beneficiaries of funded activities. Through Rios Vivos Andinos, international working groups will collaborate on basin and regional syntheses that will offer new perspectives on flowecology, flow-ecosystem services, and flow-culture relationships of Andean rivers; all products will be widely disseminated in formats understandable to non-academic audiences. Rios Vivos Andinos will promote broad recognition of the ecological and social importance of free-flowing Andean rivers, and innovative models for their conservation and management.