The Aymara, an Indigenous people from South America, still practice ancient irrigation techniques centered around wetlands in the Andes called bofedalas. They bring water and life to the middle of the Atacama — one of the driest deserts in the world.
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00:00In the Chilean Andes, these people dig channels and trenches to, as they call it, sow and
00:07reap water.
00:08It's an ancient practice that changes the landscape and also slows down runoff, redirecting
00:14the fluid to seep into the ground in specific areas.
00:18The aim is to keep the moisture in the soil for longer.
00:24This part is dry.
00:26It needs fresh soil in order to turn really green again.
00:36The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on earth.
00:41Only the cold deserts in the polar regions are drier.
00:44The Atacama covers an area of around 100,000 square kilometers in Chile, Bolivia, Argentina
00:51and Peru.
00:55It's so dry that in some regions not a single drop of rain has fallen for 400 years.
01:02But the desert is also home to zones of water and life, the bofidales.
01:08These are wetlands in the high Andes that are fed by rain and meltwater from glaciers.
01:13Over generations, the Aymara communities have developed a complex system for collecting
01:19and distributing the precious water.
01:24The canal that Fortunato Vilches maintains to irrigate his fields was already used by
01:30his grandparents.
01:32It and others underpin farming in the region.
01:37We built this canal because we wanted to plant potatoes and quinoa.
01:41We were even able to plant garlic and vegetables here.
01:46But now the canal is blocked.
01:49Because we still need it, we have to fix that.
01:55Lush pastures for the livestock are also fed by the water.
01:59The people in this region depend on their llamas and alpacas.
02:04The bofidales' ecosystem is vital to the well-being of the animals and therefore also for the
02:10people.
02:11Pedro Marín's ancestors passed on their knowledge to his generation.
02:18Our forefathers and mothers taught us that water has to come first, so everyone can benefit
02:23from it.
02:24Animals, birds, everyone.
02:27We aren't the only ones who depend on it.
02:29Many things are only made possible by water.
02:34Behind the old technique is a scientific concept that water flows more slowly in earth.
02:40When it rains or when snow or glaciers melt, the Aymara therefore try to retain as much
02:45runoff as possible so it has more time to seep into the soil and replenish groundwater
02:51reserves, a process called infiltration.
02:55The communities around the Esluga volcano in the Terrapacá region in northern Chile
03:00have been hit hard by climate change.
03:03It's actually raining a little today in Terrapacá, although it's known for its ultra-dry climate.
03:10Temperatures are growing more extreme here, while people say droughts last longer and
03:14less snowfalls than in the past.
03:17Many families live from the sale of alpaca wool.
03:21For the communities here, water and rain are synonymous with life and economic stability.
03:28The soil is very salty.
03:31If it doesn't rain, everything is covered in salt.
03:35When it rains, it washes away all the salt.
03:38When it doesn't, everything is yellow.
03:41So when it rains, we're happy.
03:46Rain helps replenish the groundwater reserves that feed the wetlands.
03:52The soil here absorbs the water like a sponge and stores it for drier stretches.
04:00The bofedales play a key role in the ancient technique of sowing and harvesting water.
04:10The methods developed in parallel in different places during the pre-Inca and Inca periods,
04:15at least a thousand years ago.
04:17They're still used today, both in Latin American countries and in Spain.
04:25The centuries-old techniques ensure that less water evaporates and that it can flow greater
04:31distances.
04:32That's why they're important to water supply in nearby towns and communities.
04:38The bofedales still provide water even in times of drought, so they can mitigate the
04:44effects of extreme weather events.
04:48As a child, Pedro Lucas learned all this from his grandfather.
04:55We sow the water so that it returns to the surface later in winter, so in August and
05:02September.
05:09The bofedales' ecosystem also stores large amounts of CO2, and it provides a home for
05:17many species that live in the green oases in the midst of the desert.
05:29But as more and more people leave the countryside for the city, knowledge about the old techniques
05:35is lost.
05:39My children and grandchildren are no longer here.
05:43They study and work in the city.
05:45And I admit the climate here is a bit harsh.
05:49They moved to the city to get away from here.
05:52Now they don't have the experience.
05:55And they don't want to come back either, because the work is very hard.
06:02Hard labor, but also very sustainable.
06:06Work that can reduce the impact of extreme weather conditions.
06:11Without the bofedales, there would be much less life in the Atacama Desert.