Threatened Lake of the Year 2023

03 - Feb - 2023

Lake Titicaca, the largest lake in South America, hosts a unique and threatened biodiversity and its essential for the livelihoods and wellbeing of the Andean people – about two million Peruvians and Bolivians live in the catchment area of this giant lake and depend on it as a drinking water reservoir.
But Lake Titicaca has been under constant stress for years: 2.5 cubic metres of wastewater produced by the Peruvian and Bolivian population flow unfiltered into the lake per second, many fish species have already disappeared forever. In addition, there are pesticides from agriculture and heavy metal-contaminated wastewater from partly illegal mining in the region.
That’s why, on #WorldWetlandsDay, we have awarded it with the title of “Threatened Lake of the Year 2023”. As our colleagues from the Autonomous Binational Authority of Lake Titicaca (ALT Peru Bolivia) say:
💬“This renewed title is a final wake-up call: If nothing happens now, the water of the lake could in the long run only be made usable as drinking water for the inhabitants inside of its shores under very difficult conditions. And we would then have to say goodbye forever to species like the endangered Titicaca giant frog.”