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 Bastiaan Louman

Director WWF-CEDEFOR project

 
Peru covers an area of about 128 million hectares in the Northwest of South America. It can roughly be subdivided into three regions: a narrow coastal strip with a dry to very dry climate, the Amazon region with tropical semi-arid to very humid climates, and the Andes region that separates the Amazon from the coast and reaches altitudes of over 5,000 masl.  Population density of Peru is low (about twentyone people per square kilometer, FAO 2005) , and about one third  of the population can be found in Lima, while the Amazon region is relatively unpopulated. Transportation is difficult and usually is by air or water, although some roads go inland and new highways are planned that will connect Brazil to the Pacific coast.
 
Fifty four percent of the total land area is natural forest area (65.7 million hectares), most of which can be found in the tropical Amazon region. 17.7 million hectares are managed as protected areas, about 12 million are considered to be community forests, and about 7.3 million hectares of the 24 million hectares of permanent productive forests are handed out as concessions. More than 750,000 hectares of tree plantations can be found in the Andes range, where, due to adverse climate and soil conditions, mainly exotic Pinus and Eucalyptus species have been planted. Pilot tree plantation schemes with native species can be found in some parts of the Amazon region. The deforestation rate is relatively low: one tenth of a percent a year between 2000 and 2005 (FAO 2005a).
 
Within the Amazon region, some of the several types of natural tropical forest are:

-               The relatively dry forests of the Southwest Amazon, which show patches of forest with closed canopies at about thirty meters above ground, connected by forests with irregular, lower canopies and an abundance of bamboo. In these forests, several species loose their leaves during the prolonged dry season.

-               The humid forests of Ucayali can be found between the Ucayali river and Andes, presenting a more regular, closed forest canopy. Near the river, the forest may be submerged in two to three meters of water during part of the rainy season, from November to about May.

-               The Peruvian “Yungas” form the transition from the Amazonian forest to the mountain forest. These forests are situated in the most densily populated area,are probably the most diverse in plant species, and concurr with the area best suited for the cultivation of coca leaves.

-               The inundated forests of Loreto are among the least accessible forests in Peru. They are known for their stocking of Virola trees, a highly demanded timber species in the Mexican market.
Outside the Amazon, the Tumbes dry forests form the biggest natural forest area.
 
Some parts of the Peruvian forests are considered to be among the most diverse forest areas in the world, counting about 4,000 tree species. Their diversity is probably due to the great range in altitude (from 100 masl in the Amazon they go straight up into the Andes) as well as rainfall: from 1,500 to 10,000 mm per year. Their fame, however, comes from one single species: big leaf mahogany. While it could be found in most of the Amazon region, in 2005 the mayor concentration of mahogany was in the Southwest Amazon forest, in particular in protected areas and on community lands.
 
At the beginning of the millenium, Peru was the principal exporter of mahogany and while only about thirty percent of Peru’s timber exports were of this species, it represented over seventyfive percent of the timber export value. Most of this was alleged to come from controversial sources, such as protected areas or from areas other than the annual cutting areas of community forest lands and concession areas. Due to its incorporation in CITES appendix II in 2002, international pressure increased on the state institute for natural resources (INRENA in its Spanish acronyms) to improve its timberflow monitoring mechanisms.
 
The twenty-first century brought other great changes to the forestry sector in Peru. In 2000, a new forest legislation did away with the uncontrollable annual harvesting rights over areas of up to 1,000 hectares, introducing forest concessions of 5,000 to 50,000 hectares. Concessions were assigned through a public bidding process, committing the winners to pay certain mimimum fees per hectare per year over the whole of their concession area. In addition, they were to adhere to strict rules on presenting and applying medium term forest management plans and annual operational plans. By the end of 2005, 584 concessions were assigned over 7.3 million hectares (INRENA 2006).
 
Some of the main problems in the Peruvian forest sector relate to ungovernability of the sector and the need to quickly implement the 2000 forest law, bypassing a number of preparative steps for its correct implementation. As a result, five years after its first implementation, illegal logging still is a mayor issue with great economic and social consequences. In addition, many of the concession areas have problems of overlap with indigenous community areas, or are in conflict with neighbouring communities over the construction and use of access roads.
 
In spite of these problems, in 2004 an association of brazilnut concession holders achieved forest management certification, in 2005 followed by five indigenous communities under the regency of the association for research and development (AIDER in Spanish acronym) and in 2006 by a small concession holder (Maderas Peruanas), reaching together an area of just over 80,000 hectares of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified forest.
 
In the coming years, the main challenges for the Peruvian forest sector are the incorporation of indigenous communities as full partners, achievement of economically viable best forest management practices within the framework of the new legislation, formalization of the sector, implementation of CITES appendix 2 for mahogany, improved management of the already established protected areas and proper planning .
 
 
 

References and Further Reading

FAO. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005. Progress towards sustainable forest management. FAO Forestry Paper 147. Rome: FAO, 2005a.
 
FAO. State of the world forests 2005. Rome: FAO, 2005b.
 
FSC (Forest Stewartship Council). “certified forests”. http://www.fsc.org/  (26 March 2006).
 
INRENA. “Concessions for timber production”.  http://www.inrena.gob.pe/ index_inicio.htm (26 March 2006)
 
IBC. “Pueblos indígenas de la Amazonia Peruana”. http://www.ibcperu.org/ index.php?lg=ES&slt_rb=1033 (26 March 2006)
 
Bastiaan Louman
bastiaan.louman@wwfperu.org.pe or bas_59@yahoo.com

Posted August 2006

 
Updated: 22 August 2007; V4