Help communities to conserve Peru's Dry Forests

This report covers the period September-November 2019 (inclusive). The project is currently delivering the second phase of reforestation activities, which commenced in November and will conclude in December 2019. To date 96 tree seedlings have been planted, from the 330 tree seedlings produced in the local municipal nursery as at the end of August. For further detail on this planting Campaign please refer to attachment 1 which outlines beneficiaries and number of trees planted by location. Trees planted earlier in the year as part of the project's initial restoration activities are growing well and being monitored on a monthly basis.

The local conservation groups of Tecapa and Muchick-Santonte continue to undertake at least monthly patrols of the dry forest, in partnership with A Rocha Peru, to identify illegal logging and fuelwood collection activities in the conservation areas. They are more established and continue to undertake capacity building through meetings and planned activities with A Rocha Peru. The Muchick group has established a micro business focused on the production of algarrobina syrup with sales of 800 soles or approximately 250 dollars as at October.

With regards to capacity building, the project has continued to deliver workshops on the production of traditional crafts using sustainable dry forest resources. The workshops focused on basket making with different local grasses, bark and dry matter harvested from the dry forest floor, including ‘viruli’, ‘hinea’, ‘carrizo’ and “junco”, as well as weaving with plastic bags. A total of 14 sessions have been held since June with an average of 13 participants per session of which 66% were female. 

A Rocha Peru held a number of workshops in partnership with other local and regional agencies during this period, including a specialist workshop on forestry legislation, in partnership with the Agrarian Agency of Pacasmayo, and a specialist workshop on local fauna in el Cañoncillo dry forest, in partnership with the NGO Conservacción.

Finally A Rocha Peru and the local community participated in World Clean up day on 21 September 2019 in the El Cañoncillo dry forest. This was a successful community event that encouraged participation and a positive approach to caring and conserving the local environment. 

• December Project Update report (PDF)