SOCIALIZATION OF THE ANALYSIS OF BINATIONAL INITIATIVES IN FOREST MANAGEMENT IN PERU AND BRAZIL

On December 4th, 2020, a meeting was held via Zoom to socialize the "Analysis of collaborative initiatives in forest management on the binational border between the State of Acre in Brazil and the Madre de Dios region in Peru," organized by the IUCN Brazil team within the framework of the Amazonia 2.0 project - including the consultant María Valeria Vásquez - and with the support of ECOREDD and the A2.0 Regional Coordination.

The meeting was attended by 30 people from different public agencies and civil organizations in Peru and Brazil, including SEMA-AC, CPI-AC, ICMBio, CINDES, FENAMAD and ANECAP; as well as members of the Amazonia 2.0 team and IUCN ORMACC.

The objective of the meeting was to share the results of the study to identify, compile and analyze strategies and bilateral agreements for forest resource management and trade on the borders between Brazil (State of Acre) and Peru (Madre de Dios) with the main actors involved in these initiatives, in order to receive input and suggestions. Also, to identify guidelines for a binational exchange of experiences and lessons learned that can contribute to strengthen the effectiveness of the initiatives and, thus, reduce the pressures and threats on the border line between Peru and Brazil.

The day began with a short presentation by Carolle Alarcón, technical coordinator of Amazonía 2.0 in Brazil, who briefly explained the context of the project from a regional perspective and later its development in Brazil. Pedro Carrillo, director of ECOREDD, and Rebeca Dumet, technical coordinator of Amazonía 2.0 in Peru, continued with their presentations, establishing the Peruvian context for the project's implementation.

Maria Valeria presented the results of her analysis, which was based on interviews with 10 public and private institutions, seven in Peru and three in Brazil. The analysis focuses on 11 binational initiatives found on the border in question.

After her important presentation, a space was created for discussion with the different actors present, who were able to express their opinions and contributions to the analysis. From IUCN ORMACC, a reflection was generated on the concept of "border", making comparisons between what happens on the Peru-Brazil border and other Central American borders such as Honduras-Nicaragua, emphasizing that any program or iniciative that seeks control and access to resources on borders, must involve the actors who are actually living there.

The team from the Pro-Indian Commission of the State of Acre made important interventions, as did Vera Reis from the Secretariat of the Environment of Acre, Brazil. Various community leaders then spoke from Peru, including Fermín Chimatani Tayori of ANECAP, Abraham Cardozo of the Municipality of Tahuamanu, and Julio Cusuruchi Palacios of FENAMAD.

The meeting concluded by highlighting the relevance of these meetings and of following up on the possible alliances that projects such as Amazonia 2.0 can generate in border areas.

You can watch the whole meeting in the following video (spanish/portuguese).