Peru is working to meet its commitments made in the context of Initiative 20x20, by restoring 3.2 million hectares of degraded land by 2020. Since 2015, it has been receiving related support from FAO’s Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism (FLRM). Early in 2016, and building on targeted FAO support for forest and landscape restoration (FLR), Peru’s National Forest Service (SERFOR) began developing a proposal for the creation of a National Programme for the Recuperation of Degraded Lands (PNRAD). It also hosted an Investment Forum. 

Peru is a diverse country with a total area of 1.28 million square kilometres. Some 2.57 percent of the national territory is covered by forests, 95 percent of which are located in the Amazon region. In the last decade, the deforestation rate in the Amazon has been approximately 120 000 ha per year, mostly due to the actions of smallholders who have migrated from the mountains. In recent years, the rate has risen to over 170 000 ha per year, which is mainly attributed to an increase in the production of crops such as coffee, cocoa and palm oil, and at the expense of natural forests.

Developing a National Programme 

Supported by FAO, PNRAD is currently in its preparatory phase. The programme will develop a long-term vision, with appropriate objectives and activities for the country’s main eco-regions. Facilitated by a national consultant funded by the FLRM, four working groups were set up by SERFOR to cover the following key issues: 1) mapping and land register of degraded lands; 2) governance and institutions; 3) systematization of technical information; and 4) resource mobilization. Each group is composed of representatives from governmental and non-governmental organization. The PNRAD plan is due to be circulated for comments to the wider public in the first quarter of 2017. 

Under the umbrella of FLRM’s support to Peru, the country-wide mapping of possible areas for restoration was organized in 2016. Over 200 cases of ongoing and planned FLR-relevant projects were identified in 20 of Peru’s 25 regions. Students used publicly available information from relevant ministries, finance institutions and subnational governments to create a project database that will help to conceptualize and plan for restoration interventions that are suited to each of the country’s eco-regions.

Governance setting

In a very positive development for institutional setting in Peru, PNRAD will work with the National Programme for Forest Plantations, with the two programmes combining efforts to recuperate degraded lands. In addition, Peru’s recently elected president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, supports the rehabilitation of degraded lands and forging partnerships between entrepreneurs, investors and smallholder associations for forest-based and agroforestry systems based on a landscape approach. 

Restoration Investment Forum in Lima

One of the key questions around restoring degraded lands in Peru – how best to gain access to finance – was addressed at an Investment Forum in July, where the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MINAGRI) and SERFOR convened a negotiation roundtable. As a result, five restoration profiles from sub-national governments were selected – such as Moringa, Althelia, and Alianza Cacao Perú – and proposed to different funds and initiatives. Lessons learned included the need for restoration proposals to improve their financial and economic viability so that indicators reflect the economic and financial resilience of a bankable project (cash flow, internal rate of return, present net value, among others). In addition, as risk investment is more likely to come from private individuals or institutions, sub-national governments need to work more closely with local and national private sector actors.

For further information please contact the FLRM team at: [email protected]

Hector Cisneros and Anique Hillbrand