GNDR member spotlight: PREDES

PREDES is a non-profit Peruvian NGO established in 1983. Its mission is to help reduce vulnerability and disaster risks across the country. PREDES promotes disaster risk management as an ongoing mindset and a key tool for achieving sustainable development. A long-standing member of GNDR, PREDES has worked to build community resilience through our Views from the Frontline 2019 project. Here, they led the process of developing a Community Committee on emergencies and disasters in Ccatcaa. 

We spoke with Juvenal Medina, President of PREDES’ Directive Council to understand more about their important work in Peru. Juvenal is a Geological Engineer specialised in disaster risk management. He also served on the Board of Directors (2022-2024) of the Geological Engineering Chapter of the College of Engineers of Peru, Departmental Council of Lima, and is a member of the Disaster Risk Management Commission at the departmental and national levels within the same institution.

Could you introduce PREDES – and the communities you serve?

The Centro de Estudios y Prevención de Desastres (PREDES) is a civil society organization founded in 1983. We were established in response to the emergencies and disasters Peru experienced during the 1982–83 El Niño phenomenon, which caused floods, landslides, and mudslides. This event severely impacted the country, resulting in economic losses exceeding one billion dollars. Recognising the high vulnerability of the population and the risk of future disasters, the need to reduce their impact became clear. Thus, PREDES was founded with a clear purpose: to strengthen vulnerable communities and foster a resilient society.

Since our inception, we have been committed to strengthening vulnerable communities by rescuing and revaluing local and ancestral knowledge while integrating scientific and technological advances. The impact of our projects – funded through international and internal sources – is now transcending borders.

Peru faces a unique set of disaster risks. How does PREDES tailor its approach to disaster risk reduction to the specific geographic, social, and economic realities of the country?

Peru is a country of contrasts – not only in its geography, climate, culture, and biodiversity but also in the challenges it faces. Located in the central and western part of South America, along the Pacific Ocean, it lies within the Pacific Ring of Fire, a region of high seismic activity. Eighty-three per cent of Peru’s population is urban, with most living in areas highly susceptible to disaster risk, putting millions of lives, homes, infrastructure, and livelihoods at stake.

Our work is grounded in our deep understanding of Peru’s realities and diverse risk scenarios. We understand where disasters occur and tailor our interventions accordingly. Our focus is on disaster prevention, risk reduction, and climate change adaptation, alongside preparedness, response, and humanitarian assistance in times of disaster. This is carried out in close collaboration with communities, grassroots organisations, local and regional governments, and national entities within the National System of Disaster Risk Management (SINAGERD).

The success of our projects lies in the active participation of local people from the outset and the integration of local and ancestral knowledge with scientific and technical expertise.

Could you tell us about a specific project PREDES is particularly proud of? What were the key objectives, activities, and outcomes, and what made it successful?

Over our 42 years representing civil society, we have been a pioneering institution in disaster risk reduction in Peru.

An important early project that laid the foundation for PREDES’ work in the 1990s was the Rímac Valley Comprehensive and Experimental Project (PIEVAR). This project stood out for its social focus on understanding disaster risk and its integrated risk management strategy, which took an intersectoral, multidisciplinary approach and was grounded in the participation of vulnerable populations and the organised community.

Other equally significant projects in PREDES’ history include those developed in Cusco on climate change adaptation, one of which was the Kawsaypacha Project: Adaptation of Andean Communities to Climate Change.

It was implemented in the Huarahuaramayo basin, which includes the communities of Huarahuara, Lloqueta, Culli, and Coñamuro, in the districts of Ccatca and Urcos, in the province of Quispicanchis, Cusco Region. It is the driest micro-basin in the province and suffers from recurrent hazards such as hailstorms, frosts, and strong winds, among others.

Funded by Bread for the World, the project aimed to strengthen adaptation and resilience capacities in response to climate change-related risks. A key objective was to recover ancestral knowledge and promote climate change adaptation measures to improve the sustainable management of natural resources and livelihoods.

We worked with families, community leaders, organisations, local and regional governments, and national government agencies. Among the project’s successes, we trained 288 community leaders and helped develop six contingency plans for heavy rains, low temperatures, and forest fires. Nearly 25,000 native tree seedlings were planted, and to support the recovery of natural grasslands, we fenced off 72 hectares using livestock mesh.

PREDES works in a country with diverse ecosystems, from the coast to the Andes. How do you integrate environmental considerations and climate change adaptation into your disaster risk reduction strategies?

We take the different characteristics of the territory into very careful consideration when developing our projects, including the physical-environmental aspects, the ecosystems, as well as the socio-economic and cultural characteristics of the population and the vulnerability conditions that shape the disaster risk scenarios in the territory.

The essential basis of PREDES’ work is a deep understanding of the local reality, recognising the country’s significant geological and climatological diversity. This diversity shapes the wide range of natural phenomena, as well as the socio-economic and cultural conditions that influence disaster risk scenarios and the impacts of climate change.

We help build more resilient communities by integrating disaster risk management (DRM) and climate change adaptation (CCA) activities. This process begins with identifying climate-related threats, conducting vulnerability analyses, and determining disaster risk reduction measures—critical first steps towards climate change adaptation in high Andean communities.

We have also adopted a circular economy approach, using biodegradable agricultural waste to produce compost for fertiliser and animal feed.

Similarly, we promote the reuse of wastewater to optimise water, soil, and vegetation resources while safeguarding the natural environment and preserving the natural resources managed by the communities themselves.

How does PREDES work with local communities to build their resilience to disasters? What role do local knowledge and participation play in your approach?

We promote the strengthening of community organisation and capacity development with the aim of increasing knowledge about hazards, vulnerability conditions, and disaster risk within communities. This includes building the capacities of leaders and residents in prioritised communities so they can implement strategies to reduce vulnerability, promoting the creation of family and community emergency plans, and enhancing the population’s ability to respond to emergencies and disasters through knowledge of disaster risk management tools.

The process begins by engaging with local leaders to understand the challenges in their territory and how climate-related threats impact their livelihoods. Based on this, the importance of risk management is explained. Capacity-building then follows, where workshops gather existing local knowledge and complement it with technical and scientific insights. Using various participatory methodologies, the community analyses past impacts, identifying and characterising them to collectively explore risk reduction strategies.

Informed by risk scenarios developed by specialists, the Community Emergency Plan is then formulated in collaboration with the population, strengthening neighbourhood organisation and training community brigadiers.