Haydée Cerrón

Lomas de Amancaes is an arid area in summer, but from June to October its hills are covered in green. Haydée Cerrón knows the place like the back of her hand, as she has lived for decades in that Rimac’s shantytown at the foot of the hills. In Chupaca, Junín, where she was born, it was green all year round; all is different here, as she even has to fight to protect the environment. She founded the Environmental Protection Association of the Amancaes Flower and Hills (Asociación Protectores Ambientales de la Flor y la Loma de Amancaes), which groups together a few but determined residents that, despite being harassed by invaders, do not give up on their mission. Their work causes a positive impact on residents’ quality of life and has gained the support of environmentalists local and foreign and university students with whom they have created an ecotourism route so that everyone can enjoy the landscape of those beautiful hills.

With pick and shovel you and your neighbours have created this ecotourism route.

Yes, and also with the support of students of Biology, Environmental Engineering, and Civil Engineering from different universities. They have come even from Cusco! That fills us with energy...

Why do you think they do it?

Love. Love for nature, and because they wanted to know the place! For people in Cusco, Lima is a grey city, and when these students were told about Lomas de Amancaes, they were amazed, as it was something new to them.

You have said more than once that you are tired of all the concrete.

Yes, because the district councils of Lima and El Rímac only care about building more stairs and buildings. They never take care of this area, which is a natural green area! It is national cultural heritage! It has history and culture, because Amancaes used to be a festivity.

And now, as an Association, you go to schools to raise awareness among children.

We are raising awareness at schools such as María Parado de Bellido (El Rímac). It has been three years doing it. And students come visit the hills after each campaign...

But this is not for everybody, is it? Only the best students can come here, it is like a reward.

Also those who can climb and trek, because not everybody has enough endurance. Some come, see from below and stay there.

What good does it do that students come?

It helps us spread the word, because most of the children of invaders who live on the top of hills go to these schools. So, even though we have failed to raise awareness among parents, their children realise now that this is a reserved area, that they cannot destroy it.

In the 1980s, a Spanish NGO invested a good amount of money to make a bio-garden that for years was very profitable for the community.

For the whole population, because it produced many vegetables: cabbage, lettuce, tomato, corn, potato. We could buy at very good prices.

The ecosystem became very useful.

That area was created as a buffer zone, but today it is practically lost due to invasions. Most of it has been destroyed by the invaders who use it as a five-a-side football field.

And authorities allow it?

They do, but we will not allow them to continue destroying the ecosystem. They are inside an area reserved by the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture!

But you are only a few! Four women and one man.

7 out of 42 neighbourhoods are committed to the protection of the hills, although the active members are only five. The others cannot come because of their jobs.

7 out of 42. You do not have it easy.

Not at all. They behave as if they were our enemies. At meetings, they say, "Who chose this lady as chair?"... We receive no support from the district council.

Instead you receive threats.

Yes. The whole team has been threatened. Juana Ccama has been even attacked by invaders. They hit her and broke her head. Fortunately, she got a restraining order.

“One of us was attacked by invaders. They hit her and broke her head”

If it is so dangerous, why do you keep doing it? You get no payment, your work is ad honorem.

We are not paid. We do it because we really want to. We know that it is dangerous, but we keep doing it because we must protect the hills.

Why?

Because we love nature! Because we love the environment! It is our lung.

You committed entirely to this work when you lost your husband.

You can say so. It was a way out from all the pain and sadness. Sitting at home like a couch potato could lead to disease; doing these walks helps to stay healthy.

Yes, because you are 60 and you trek as if it was nothing.

That is why I invite all people to visit Lomas de Amancaes. Come and trek!

It is a beautiful place and only 15 minutes away from Government Palace!

It is very beautiful and has a wide diversity of flora and fauna. It is a unique but also fragile ecosystem, so we cannot allow it to disappear only because those who are about to run for the mayor's office want to win the votes of invaders. A great extent of the hills would be lost.

In summer, the area is arid; the rest of the year, it blooms. You have built stairs and a path to establish an ecotourism route.

The route was established by the administration of former mayor Susana Villarán, but we have stuck to the plan left to us.

Thanks to your work, you are in the ranking of the Latinoamérica Verde Awards.

Yes, and now we have to travel to Ecuador to present our project.

You do not have the money for that.

No, we have no money and no support. We hope to get some for the ticket and stay.

Otherwise you will miss the opportunity.

It’s a great opportunity! Because surely there will be many investors who will want to support Lomas de Amancaes.

A place that, despite its beauty and closeness, is not well-known.

It is not known. Lomas de Amancaes has left the anonymity thanks to the group that works here, thanks to our promotion.

In summer, when all becomes arid, you run out of work?

No. We are always climbing, because if we do not, people invade. It is in summer when invaders try to take more land, and when water is missing, so we take it up in bottles, in backpacks... We do it because we reforest taras, guarangos...

Once again: you do not have to do it.

That is what they say (laughs)... But we want to continue protecting this.

When you came to the neighbourhood with your family, you never thought you would end up doing this.

Never. When we arrived, my children were young and watched as the hills were turning green. They missed our green hometown, Huancayo, so we would constantly climb. It is nice to have a place to spend the day. It does not matter if the day is rainy or foggy, we like it! If you touch your head now, you will feel your hair wet with moisture… That is how it is here.

“Loma de Amancaes has left the anonymity thanks to the group that works here, thanks to our promotion”

Students are your allies in preventing invaders from taking more land of Lomas de Amancaes.

Children are like a sponge that absorbs everything, so we are also holding recycling workshops ⸺with paper, cardboard, plastic. The goal is that they observe, evaluate the situation and understand why we are doing this.

If you put so much effort into this, how do you make your living? I understand that some women have had problems at home for coming and protecting the hills.

I live on my pension. My friend Juana works from Monday to Friday and comes here on the weekends; so does my daughter. Trinidad is a housewife. That is how we do it. We do not receive support from any entity.

It is a sacrifice.

It is. At first it was hard; family does not get it: "Why keep climbing that hill?! You'll fall and break the bones". The other day I heard my son say I should take a sleeping pill because that way I would be more at home (laughs)...

What do you answer to that?

That I fulfil my duties at home: "There’s your food and your clean clothes. Everything’s ready. Bye!

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