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Uñon is situated at the far north-west of the Colca Canyon and sits at 2700m above sea level. Its population is approximately 160 people and the only access there, currently, is a single track, which you can either walk or take a mule.

Scattered all round Uñon are the remnants of Inca and pre-Inca settlements and agricultural land. Uñon’s trade at present relies on crops such as rice, maize, wheat, corn, potatoes and different types of “tuna” (the fruit from cactus plants… a bit like kiwi fruits).

Their irrigation systems are a series of concrete channels that run this way and that, passing the river water throughout the fields.They also have cattle and sheep in the hills, which they use for meat, milk, cheese and wool.

Everything that you see in Uñon has been brought up by mules from main road far below. This includes all the glass, computers, metal work, satellite dishes, everything! The whole village is run incredibly efficientlyby a committee of people, the head of which isSnrElard Percy Amésquita Silva. Across the vast valley a large snow capped mountain, Nevado Coropuna, just adds to the beauty of this area. However, the people of Uñon tell us that the mountain has lost half of its snow within the last twenty years. They believe within the next twenty years there will be no snow left on it.

We asked about other changes they’ve seen in the climate over recent years. SnrSilva mentioned that ten years ago they would regularly receive 4 months of rainfall each year. This was enough to keep the crops healthy and abundant. However, within the last five years the rainfall has constantly decreased and now only gives one and half months of rainfall each year.Are the crops suffering? Yes they are. We could already see some of the irrigation channels, that would normally be flowing with water, were now bone dry.

They told us this also has a knock on effect for their livestock in the hills as the land becomes more barren. We then asked if there was anything they were doing about it. SnrSilvaTold us that a road is being currently built to link Uñon with the Peruvian road network. This is so that they can potentially re-open some gold mines a little further up in the hills. They told us that they were originally mines run by the Spanish (after they conquered the Incas).

The Germans continued the mining until the Second World War when they were all called up and had to return to Europe to fight. The mines were then abandoned and left to decay.The people of Uñon believe they can extract gold ore from within the hills and provide a living for their town. Also, with the road being opened they wish to bring in more tourism to the area.

There are plenty of untouched Inca settlements and good trekking routes across the mountains into the Colca Canyon. It was sad to see that climate effects were happening in such an alarmingly fast rate in Uñon. However, it was also impressive to see the effective adjustments that the town was having to make in order to combat the changes. With the new road comes traffic and more people, especially if the gold mining and tourism are successful.

With this comes more pollution and waste management issues. Obvious bi-products of progression we know, but then what else can the people of Uñon do to keep their town going? Ed and I think this is a poignant first education supplement as it highlights obvious and first-hand consequences of climate change. It also highlights the effective ways people are having to adjust in order to survive. We’d very much appreciate people’s views on what we found out in Uñon and we’ll try and get further “Stories from the Amazon” up and running as soon as we can.

Luke and Ed