Development and promotion of sustainable land management practices for the Amazonian peatlands in Peru

Peru has the third-largest area of tropical peatlands in the world, which have been consistently degraded in recent decades, releasing enormous amounts of greenhouse gases. The aguajales cover 4.6 million hectares in the Peruvian lowland Amazon and are the largest peatland ecosystem in Peru.¹ 73% of these aguajal peatlands are degraded. Unsustainable practices of harvesting aguaje fruits by cutting and felling the female palm, in addition to other factors such as urban sprawl, are depleting the aguajales and forever changing an ecosystem on which the livelihoods of thousands of local families depend². These IPLCs safeguard most of the biodiversity, but they have insufficient access to sustainable resource management tools and economic opportunities to maintain their livelihoods, which is why, in 2023, Loreto was the department with the highest percentage of multidimensional poverty, with 60.6% of the population affected.  

Indigenous Peoples face significant barriers in accessing financial mechanisms and business models, as well as understanding the application processes for these resources. It is crucial to connect these mechanisms to the territorial needs of Indigenous communities. These needs are often outlined in their life plans and the local development plans of regional governments, which frequently do not align.

¹ Una NDC para las turberas amazónicas de Perú
² Characterizing degradation of palm swamp peatlands from space and on the ground: An exploratory study in the Peruvian Amazon
³ Pobreza multidimensional afecta a 1.4 millones más que la monetaria

Considering the needs, interests, and ancestral knowledge of Indigenous Peoples is fundamental to designing and implementing effective and sustainable financial mechanisms. Therefore, promoting their empowerment, their involvement in decision-making, and their access to funding sources is of vital importance.

The project’s objective is to maintain Loreto’s freshwater ecosystem integrity through implementing demonstrative and replicable finance mechanisms to ensure the conservation of Amazonian peatlands.

This proposal seeks to provide these conditions in a sustainable, long-term, and scalable way that can be applied to other watersheds across the Amazon that share similar ecological and socio-cultural conditions, maintaining natural processes that are linked to their well-being and cultural identity, while providing economic alternatives and improving livelihoods.

A portfolio of financial mechanisms will be identified and prioritised with experts, community leaders, subnational governments, Minister of the Environment (MINAM), academies, private sector, among others to promote peatland sustainability. This process will end with the development of a roadmap for the promotion of these mechanisms and the design and implementation of pilot financial mechanisms for Amazonian peatlands.