Biodiversity Reserve Location: Peru
The project conserves tropical rainforest in a biodiversity hotspot of the Peruvian
Amazon. The forest provides a habitat for a variety of rare and endangered wildlife. The
project integrates conservation and sustainable economic development to protect the
rainforest.
By helping local farmers transition to sustainable cacao production,
degraded land is being restored to relieve deforestation and provide local communities
with forest-friendly and sustainable livelihoods.
This project addresses the drivers of
deforestation by investing in commercially viable cacao agroforestry systems and using
climate finance to reward forest monitoring and stewardship.
Evolution of the project as of the end of 2020:
Through engagement with local communities, the project has succeeded in restoring over 4,000 hectares of degraded land to cultivate Organic, Fair Trade cacao through agroforestry systems, placing a value on restorative agriculture and conserving the natural forest ecosystem in doing so.
Project Ambition for 2022
● Continue to expand its production and sale of cacao internationally through a farmer-driven association that provides technical assistance, infrastructure for post-harvest management, quality control, and a route to market.
● Involve more farmers in organic cacao farming and bring greater economic and social benefits to local communities. The aim is to create a new economic model across the region, providing stable and productive activities that are an alternative to resource destruction and extraction of the rainforest for local people.
● Biodiversity research expeditions, which were paused during the pandemic, will pick up again in 2022. In the past, these have seen incredible discoveries of new species to science, such as the Arrozalero Mouse, Radiant Marsupial Weasel and Legless Lizard.