Protection of the Peruvian Amazon
Project description
Environment
The Amazonian ecosystems of the Madre de Dios region in Peru is home to many beautiful wildlife species including macaws that soar over the Peruvian Amazon rivers, giant river otters that play in its lakes and majestic jaguars racing through the forest floor.
Continuous deforestation in the area is creating significant challenges to the ecosystem. The highest annual deforestation totals on record in the country have been over the past four years.
Satellite images and other data suggest carbon emissions from deforestation rose by more than 60% between 2006 and 2010.
Officials say deforestation, has led to the clearing of some 150,000 hectares of forest in the past quarter century.
Project
The Madre de Dios Amazon project is a (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) REDD project.
The project involves conservation management of nearly 41 million acres in the Peruvian Amazon area of tropical rainforest located in the Madre de Dios region of Peru. The project is designed to reduce the impact of the newly constructed inter-oceanic, trans-Amazonian, road system that is nearing complete from Brazil to the Pacific Ocean and Peruvian ports. The road system has enabled the migration of many new settlers to the Amazonia region.
The new settlers to the area will engage in agricultural and agricultural livestock activities for their livelihood. However, this new use of the region has already resulted in significant deforestation and forest degradation of the Amazon and threatens large-scale conservation efforts. The impacts of the rapid population growth in the region can be clearly seen in Brazil, where the trans-Amazonian road has been completed for many years now.
Over 20 years of land use and land cover have been analysed from 1993 – 2003 the results show accelerated deforestation triggered by the road network spreading, mining and agriculture expansion, and population growth. Current unplanned development in this region is threatening its outstanding biodiversity.
Goals of the project
- To reduce the pressure from the conversion of land for agricultural and agricultural livestock activities by the local population
- To guarantee the sustainable forestry management of the two timber concessions that operate in the area. It will ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable management of the forest, promote healthy wildlife habitat, and prevent future compromise of the forest carbon stocks. Protection of this region will remove an estimated average of 660,00 tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) from entering the atmosphere each year.
Project verification
The Madre de Dios Amazon project is verified by the Verified Carbon Standards. You can view the project on the Verra Registry here.
Project photos
Photo credit: Eden Reforestation Projects
