After studying the specialty of Conservation of the Environment of the Career in Agronomy and Rural Development in Giessen, Germany, Andrés Gerique worked as a consultant in Spain before returning to Germany to obtain a doctorate in Human Geography from the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. His doctoral thesis was on the use of biodiversity by indigenous and local groups in southern Ecuador. He has subsequently directed his research towards interdisciplinary work on biodiversity and socio-environmental conflicts caused by conservation and climate change programs and the expansion of tourism in protected areas and reserves biosphere in South America. He is currently an associate professor at the Geography Institute of the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg and collaborates as an advisor with the Bullinger Institute for Negotiation, Switzerland. In addition, he is coordinator of the Andean Countries Working Group of the German Research Association on Latin America ADLAF.

Publications (last 5 years): 

2023. (with Navarro-Drazich D, Christel LG , Grimm I, Rendón M-L, Schlemer Alcântara L, Abraham Y, Conde M del R de Simón C (2023): Climate change and tourism in South and Central America, Journal of Sustainable Tourism. DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2023.2210783

2023 (with Vanselow K. ) El Chaltén, Argentinian Patagonia: A successful combination of conservation and tourism? En: S. López (ed.) Socio-Environmental Research in Latin America, The Latin American Studies Book Series. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-22680-9_9 Springer

2022 (with Knoke T, Gosling E, Reith E, Pohle P, Valle-Carrión L, Ochoa S, Castro LM, Calvas B, Hildebrandt P, Bastit F, Döllerer M, Paul C.). Confronting sustainable intensification with uncertainty and extreme values on smallholder tropical farms. Sustainability Science 0, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-022-01133-y

2021 (with Gemeinholzer J, Richter M.). Geografía del arte callejero: La distribución espacial de un arte controvertido. Revista Geográfica de Valparaíso 58. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5027/rgv.v0i58.a68

2021 (with Pohle P, Brönner M, Kieslinger J, Lederer L.). Rechtliche und politische Rahmenbedingungen als Grundlage für sozial-ökologische Transformationen. Die Themenfelder Nachhaltigkeit, ländliche Räume, Klima- und Gewässerschutz, Biodiversität, Wald, Landwirtschaft und Energie. Mitteilungen der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. Band 67: 117-175

2020. Beyond the line that divides: An actor-based approach for biodiversity conservation in the Global South. Habilitation. Institut für Geographie, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

2020 (with Gosling E, Reith E, Knoke T, Paul C.). Exploring farmer perceptions of agroforestry via multi-objective optimisation: a test application in Eastern Panama. Agroforestry Systems 94: 2003–2020. DOI: 10.1007/s10457-020-00519-0

2020 (with López S, López Sandoval MF, Salazar J.). Landscape change in Southern Ecuador: An indicator-based and multi-temporal evaluation of land use and land cover in a mixed-use protected area. Ecological Indicators 115, 106357. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106357

2020 (with Knoke T, Paul C, Rammig A, Gosling E, Hildebrandt P, Härtl F, Peters T, Richter M, Diertl K-H, Castro LM, Calvas B, Ochoa S, Valle‐Carrión LA, Hamer U, Tischer A, Potthast K, Windhorst D, Homeier J, Wilcke W, Velescu A, Pohle P, Adams J, Breuer L, Mosandl R, Beck E,Weber M, Stimm B, Silva B, Verburg PH, Bendix J.). Accounting for multiple ecosystem services in a simulation of land use decisions: Does it reduce tropical deforestation? Global Change Biology. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15003

(2020). Waldschutz durch Zahlungen für Ökosystemleistungen? Eindrücke aus dem ecuadorianischen Amazonas. Mitteilungen der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. Band65/66 (2019/20): 89–106

2019 (with Pohle P, López MF.). Dimensiones humano-ecológicas en el uso y conservación sostenible de los bosques tropicales de montaña bajo cambio global. En: Bogner FX, Bendix J, Beck E (eds.): Hotspot de la biodiversidad – Bosque Tropical de Montaña. Loja, Ecuador.

 

Proyecto de investigación como fellow del CALAS

Títle: Unraveling the effects of conservation based on payments for environmental services on the socio-cultural capital of the indigenous peoples of the western Amazon

Summary: Tropical forests host a unique biodiversity. They are essential sinks of CO2 in the fight to slow and reverse climate change and provide ecosystem services that sustain the livelihoods of 1.6 billion people. However, they are threatened by the intense exploitation of their natural resources. Over the last two decades, market instruments such as payments for ecosystem services (PES) or environmental services (PES) have been developed to counter this threat, supporting traditional biodiversity conservation based on protected areas and protecting the role of forests as CO2 sinks. The PES (or PES) are economic incentives to compensate the local population for preserving nature. Under its REDD+1 program, the United Nations promotes projects that include this mechanism.

As in other countries, research in Ecuador, one of the pioneers of the PES/PES and REDD+ programs worldwide, has focused on analyzing their acceptance at the local level or their financial and ecological effectiveness. Little attention has been paid to the impact these mechanisms could have on indigenous and local cultures. Therefore, this ongoing project analyzes the effects of the PES/PES on socio-cultural practices and the functionality of the Amazonian indigenous communities participating in them, which have suddenly become involved in this market economy mechanism with little prior preparation.

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