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According to the Peruvian agricultural ministry, the Pacific watersheds where the great cities and intense farming are located only benefit from 1% of the available freshwater in Peru. Hence a thorough knowledge of the hydrology of this region is of particular importance. In the paper, analysis of this region and of the two other main Peruvian drainages, the Titicaca and Amazonas are reported. Rainfall and runoff data collected by the Peruvian National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI) and controlled under the Hydrogeodynamics of the Amazon Basin (HyBAm) project is the basis of this basin-scale study that covers the 1969–2004 period. Beyond the strong contrasting rainfall conditions that differentiate the dry coastal basins and the wet eastern lowlands, details are given about in situ runoff and per basin rainfall distribution in these regions, and about their different altitude–rainfall relationships. Rainfall and runoff variability is strong in the coastal basins at seasonal and inter-annual time scales, and related to extreme El Niño events in the Pacific Ocean. However, rainfall and runoff are more regular in the Andes and Amazonas at the inter-annual time scale. Warm sea-surface temperatures in the northern tropical Atlantic tend to produce drought in the southern Andes basins. Moreover, significant trends and change-points are observed in the runoff data of Amazonas basins where rainfall and runoff decrease, especially after the mid-1980s and during the low-stage season. Almost all the coastal basins show some change in minimum runoff during the last 35 years while no change is observed in rainfall. This means that human activity may have changed runoff in this region of Peru, but this hypothesis deserves more study. Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Associate editor Š. Blažková Citation Lavado C., W.S., Ronchail, J., Labat, D., Espinoza, J.C. and Guyot, J.L., 2012. Basin-scale analysis of rainfall and runoff in Peru (1969–2004): Pacific, Titicaca and Amazonas watersheds. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 57 (4), 625–642. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: It is commonly assumed that indigenous medical systems remain strong in developing countries because biomedicine is physically inaccessible or financially not affordable. This paper compares the health-seeking behavior of households from rural Andean communities at a Peruvian and a Bolivian study site. The main research question was whether the increased presence of biomedicine led to a displacement of Andean indigenous medical practices or to coexistence of the two healing traditions. Methodology: Open-ended interviews and free listing exercises were conducted between June 2006 and December 2008 with 18 households at each study site. Qualitative identification of households' therapeutic strategies and use of remedies was carried out by means of content analysis of interview transcriptions and inductive interference. Furthermore, a quantitative assessment of the incidence of culture-bound illnesses in local ethnobiological inventories was performed. Results: Our findings indicate that the health-seeking behavior of the Andean households in this study is independent of the degree of availability of biomedical facilities in terms of quality of services provided, physical accessibility, and financial affordability, except for specific practices such as childbirth. Preference for natural remedies over pharmaceuticals coexists with biomedical healthcare that is both accessible and affordable. Furthermore, our results show that greater access to biomedicine does not lead to less prevalence of Andean indigenous medical knowledge, as represented by the levels of knowledge about culture-bound illnesses. Conclusions: The take-home lesson for health policy-makers from this study is that the main obstacle to use of biomedicine in resource-poor rural areas might not be infrastructural or economic alone. Rather, it may lie in lack of sufficient recognition by biomedical practitioners of the value and importance of indigenous medical systems. We propose that the implementation of health care in indigenous communities be designed as a process of joint development of complementary knowledge and practices from indigenous and biomedical health traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A revision of the genus Tecoma in Bolivia based on the author's herbarium research and extensive field observations is presented. Species delimitation is re-evaluated, resulting in the recognition of only four species, one of which, T. beckii J. R. I. Wood, is described as new. Tecoma sambucifolia is treated as var. sambucifolia (Kunth) J. R. I. Wood of the widespread and variable T. stans (L.) Juss., as it can only be distinguished on the basis of minor morphological characters and is not as geographically restricted as has been supposed. Tecoma fulva (Cav.) D. Don is treated as a variable species extending from central Peru to Chile and northern Argentina with six subspecies: ssp. fulva, ssp. guarume (A. DC.) J. R. I. Wood, ssp. tanaeciiflora (Kränzlin) J. R. I. Wood, ssp. arequipensis (Sprague) J. R. I. Wood, ssp. garrocha (Hieron.) J. R. I. Wood, and ssp. altoandina J. R. I. Wood, the latter described as new. The differences between T. tenuiflora (A. DC.) Fabris and the Peruvian T. rosifolia Kunth are discussed. Hybrids are formally recognized in the genus for the first time, and the implications for the accepted corolla morphology and pollination syndromes are discussed. Maps illustrate the geographical distributions of the species. All taxa discussed in the paper are illustrated. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 156, 143–172. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the relationship between political violence and ‘horizontal’ inequality in ethnically-divided countries in Latin America. The cases studied are Bolivia, Guatemala and Peru. Preliminary results are reported on the measurement of horizontal inequality, or that between groups, defined in cultural, ethnic and/or religious terms. The Latin American cases are shown to be often more unequal than the cases from Africa and Asia included in the wider study of which the work forms a part. The complex relationship between such inequality, ethnicity and political violence is explored historically. Ethnicity is today rarely a mobilising factor in violence in the Latin American cases, but the degree of inequality based on ethnicity is shown to be highly relevant to the degree of violence which results once conflict is instigated. History explains why. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether children later reported as having been unwanted or mistimed at conception will, when compared with children reported as wanted, show adverse effects when the following criteria are applied: receipt of antenatal care before the sixth month of gestation, supervised delivery, full vaccination of the child, and child growth (stunting). The study uses data from five recent Demographic and Health Survey enquiries in Bolivia, Egypt, Kenya, Peru, and the Philippines. In Peru, children unwanted at conception were found to have significantly worse outcomes than other children, but in the other countries, a systematic effect was found only for receipt of antenatal care. Weak measurement of the complex concept of wantedness may have contributed to these results. Birth order of the child, with which wantedness is inextricably linked, has more powerful and pervasive effects, with first-born and second-born children being much less likely to show adverse effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the impact of COVID-19 on artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) supply chains in Peru between spring 2020 and early 2021. This analysis delves into the effects of the pandemic on the ASGM sector and the illicit flow of gold, including the effect of the mandated lockdown on the Peruvian economy, the price of gold and its impact on artisanal and small-scale mining communities, the socio-economic consequences of the quarantine on Peru's ASGM population, and the impact of lockdown on the gold supply chain. This study suggests the artisanal and small-scale mining formalization process in Peru was greatly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, which brought complications such as increased criminal activity and violence along the gold supply chain. Similar trends can be seen in ASGM populations around the globe, and case studies from Zimbabwe, Colombia, Bolivia, and Chile explore how different governments have handled the effect of COVID-19 on the ASGM sector. This article highlights recommendations for governments and other key stakeholders to consider for supporting and strengthening ASGM communities, the gold supply chain, and the pursuit of formalization in Peru and worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]