Socio-ecological systems (SES) are complex and adaptive systems with variables and relationships interacting at different temporal and spatial scales. Identifying and analyzing such variables and interactions, as well as understanding the main leverage points and critical thresholds of the SES, are important challenges to define strategies and policies aimed at finding sustainability of SES. The Wayfinder guide is a tool for sustainability analysis and adaptive management planning to guide decision making. The research question addressed in this manuscript is about the challenges and opportunities of using the Wayfinder guide to understand the complexity of sustainability trajectories and guide the territorial planning in the challenging environmental context met in the Global South, particularly in a strategic mountain SES in the tropical Andes in Colombia. Using the Wayfinder guide to begin with the analysis of a SES may take a lot of resources and longtime scales (years) to consoli