Andrea Ledesma
Sullca

Andrea has a bachelor’s degree in Tourism Administration from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. She has worked in the travel and tourism sector of the municipalities of Barranco and Lurín, in the Iperú Tourist Information Office at the Lima Airport headquarters and in an NGO developing tourism projects for international cooperation. Currently, Andrea works as an independent tourism consultant. She has experience in environmental volunteering and tourist orientation since 2015 through her participation in the Lomas de Paraíso Ecotourism Circuit Association, of which she is also a member of the Board of Directors fulfilling the ad honorem position of Secretary of Environmental Management. As such, she has been managing conservation activities in the hills of her district as well as organising the association's tourist orientation service.

PROJECT

In Villa María del Triunfo, Lima, there is a natural area called Lomas de Paraíso, rich in biodiversity and history. It offers many benefits such as climate regulation and air purification, thus contributing to the fight against climate change. However, this ecosystem is under constant threat due to land trafficking. Faced with this problem, the community initiative creates an organisation that conserves this area through ecotourism. A route has been created in which a tourist guiding service is offered, through which funds are raised to finance conservation projects in the hills and raise awareness in Lima about the importance of this ecosystem. Now we need to create more routes but with a varied theme that allows us to strengthen the links we create between people and hills. For this, I would like to develop the application of heritage interpretation techniques in the guiding service, so that the message of conservation can be better communicated, contribute to fighting climate change, cause positive impact on the local population which is estimated at approximately 600 families.

The project arose from the fact that many of the people who cause damage to the hills do so because they do not know the importance of conserving these spaces, and for this reason, climate change is on the rise, damaging the health of many people in Lima, especially of those who live in the surrounding areas.

The way of guiding must change, no longer being the conventional way in which they explain you about the species of flora and fauna, but should include interpretive techniques that allow the message to reach all audiences and in a more creative way.

MOTIVATION FOR AND COMMITMENT TO CREATING A BETTER AND MORE SUSTAINABLE PLANET

What motivates me to create a better and more sustainable planet is the fact that I can contribute from my profession to the generation change that we need, I am moved by the fact that in the future there will be people more aware of caring for the planet, of the hills, and of all natural areas, so that we can reduce the effects of climate change and improve our quality of life, gradually achieving sustainable development, benefiting the most vulnerable populations.