Guardians of the hills. Portoviejo - Ecuador

The Guardians of the Hills instrument is an urban planning mechanism developed in coordination between the Municipal Government of Portoviejo and the voluntary inhabitants of the neighborhoods located in the hills. It consists of building a network of neighbors, strengthening its social fabric, which is responsible for reporting the interventions, usually informal or unregulated, which mean increasing the risk of landslides in the area. Through the alerts and reports made by the inhabitants, the Municipality of Portoviejo can carry out an immediate control action to prevent landslides and their consequences that may cause future disasters such as human and material losses. Among the main actions carried out by the guardians of the hills; Among the main actions carried out by the guardians of the hills are the reforestation of the hills, continuous maintenance of reforested sites, participation in mingas to implement mitigation works such as weeding, stabilization of slopes with tires and planting of endemic species, among others, The project seeks to prevent the development of interventions that increase the risk of landslides, the expansion of the urban sprawl in the hills, ecosystemic restoration of the area and the declaration of the La Tomatera hill as a Protection Zone, with the objective of preventing the urban sprawl from spreading in this area of high ecosystemic value.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Legislative, regulatory and strategic instruments›Urban planning mechanisms

Challenges addressed

Ecologic connectivity
Flood risk: pluvial and fluvial / soil permeability
Landslide risk
Social cohesion
Social equity

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

Through the SbN, the organization of the inhabitants in conjunction with the Municipal Autonomous Government, is seeking the ecosystemic restoration of the area, with complementary reforestation activities and the declaration of the La Tomatera hill as a Protected Zone, to prevent the urban sprawl and allow the conservation of biodiversity.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Allotments, community gardens or agricultural areas

Good practice characteristics:

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Inclusivity

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

Municipal Government of Portoviejo

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The initiative is part of a diverse citizen collective within the framework of the Sustainable Intermediate Cities Program with the municipality of Portoviejo through the German Technical Cooperation GIZ, which has been able to stimulate personal and collective growth, who decided to work in favor of individual and collective wellbeing, through the strengthening of governance, the foundation of citizen co-responsibility, the reduction of risks and the strengthening of capacities to achieve sustainable endogenous development. The GAD of Portoviejo receives cooperation from actors in the territory, with the objective of improving the quality of life conditions of the inhabitants of the hills; or, if necessary, relocate them, if they are at risk due to landslides. Through the relationship created with the inhabitants of the hills, the Municipality of Portoviejo seeks to create a network, based on the social fabric of the place, which is responsible for alerting and reporting in a timely manner the affectations that could be made in the place (landslides, informal constructions, etc.).

Involvement of non-governmental actors:

Citizens or community groups / NGOs

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

The inhabitants of the hills have created an alert system that is responsible for preventing and reporting to the municipality when there are new developments concerning natural risks such as construction in risk areas of the hills, among other inappropriate work. In this way, they seek to prevent and reduce the risk of landslides that exist in the hillside areas, and have also developed actions at the community level for the recovery of public space.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Citizen science

Targeted actors:

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs, NGOs, etc.

Financing

Sources of funding:

Funds provided by non-governmental organization

Details about instrument financing:

At present, the Colinas Integra Improvement Plan has not been allocated funding. However, the "Guardians of the Hills" collective is not aware of the budget generated by the implementation of its actions.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

The Portoviejo 2035 Plan has a complex monitoring and evaluation system, which is carried out by a municipal agency specifically in charge of this matter. When one of the plans, programs or projects included in the Portoviejo 2035 Plan is activated, this municipal agency is in charge of carrying out a strict monitoring and evaluation of the fulfillment of goals and objectives.

Did an evaluation take place?:

Yes

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

The "Guardians of the Hills" collective has generated citizen co-responsibility in landslide prevention and risk reduction.

Success factors and lessons learned:

The success factors are the social construction of the co-responsibility of all the inhabitants of the hills, strengthening the capacities of the collective concerned about nature, climate change and how to face adverse situations arising from risk, in order to develop the possibility of resilience.