These Glacier Guardians Are Women

"In the last 40 years, the Quelccaya ice cap has lost 37 percent of its total area. A study suggests that the glacier will reach a state of irreversible decline by the mid-2050s."

"For the inhabitants of Phinaya, wet fertile grasslands are crucial for their alpacas. Without water, pastures dry out and alpacas die. In a drought that hit the region in 2021, one family lost 60 animals—almost a third of their herd."

"Photographer Ángela Ponce captures Andean rituals, family ties and the daily life of the Phinayan people amidst the receding glacier. Guardians of the Glaciers focuses on the women of Phinaya, like park ranger Yolanda Quispe and her family, and their relationship with the melting Quelccaya glacier."

The Phinaya community in the Peruvian Andes relies on the Quelccaya ice cap, the world's largest tropical glacier, for water that sustains alpaca herding and local livelihoods. Over four decades, the glacier has lost 37 percent of its total area, with projections indicating irreversible decline by the mid-2050s. Climate change has compounded this crisis through severe droughts that dry pastures and kill alpacas, with families losing significant portions of their herds. A 2021 drought caused one family to lose 60 animals. Photographer Ángela Ponce's exhibition "Guardians of the Glaciers" at Instituto Cervantes documents the impact on Phinayan women and their communities through portraits, video, and sound installations, highlighting the cultural and environmental consequences of glacial melt.

Read at State of the Planet