Hub South America: Challenge
Healthy forest for people
The Interoceanic Highway opened in 2011 was a crucial milestone in the socioeconomic development of the Madre de Dios region in Peru (and adjacent areas in Bolivia and Brazil). But this economic artery also opened vast areas of previously undisturbed land to large-scale forms of resource exploitation and the expansion of unsustainable and illegal economic activities. The consequences of these developments going unchecked include forest degradation, river erosion, changes in hydrological regimes, mercury pollution, rising inequality, and decreasing food security. These dynamics are threatening an area of rich cultural and natural diversity that is home to several indigenous ethnic groups and has been classified as a global biodiversity hotspot.
The Wyss Academy is working with local partners to reverse these negative trends and find solutions with mutually beneficial impacts on nature conservation and human wellbeing. The aim is to preserve biodiversity while offering opportunities for sustainable livelihoods, thereby helping to protect these forests of global significance – also in light of the climate crisis.
Photo by: Pavel Martiarena Huaman
Our goal
To co-develop multifunctional land use models and nature-based solutions in contested forest landscapes that halt biodiversity loss and forest destruction and support local livelihoods.
Co-design of solutions and stewardship
Following our 2021 activities, we held several exploratory meetings with potential national-level partners and key local stakeholders, with a view to feeding our projects and actions into the solutionscape. The stakeholders addressed included government agencies, NGOs, academia, youth organizations, and indigenous peoples’ organizations.
Our activities
- Innovative land governance
- Knowledge dialogue
- Enhancing the amazon nut value chain
- Activities toward a sustainable tourism value chain
- Artisanal and small-scale gold mining
Innovative land governance
The Regional Government of Madre de Dios officially approved the PEZA Action Plan and formalized the technical committee for its implementation and supervision. The SERNANP included the PEZA process as an instrument in its national-level Master Plan.
Knowledge dialogue
A co-design process began with the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, ACCA, and public institutions linked to the education sector in the Madre de Dios region. The political situation in Peru at the end of 2022 delayed the co-design process to the first quarter of 2023.
Enhancing the amazon nut value chain
Five experiments from among those submitted in 2021 were selected for funding. A co-design process enabled convergence between the solutionscape’s challenges and the experiments’ objectives. Implementing partners include public institutions (CITEproductivo, IIAP), private companies (Camino Verde, Shiwi), and one NGO (ACCA). The kick-off workshop helped to forge a broad stakeholder coalition and a community of practice to strengthen the amazon nut value chain. The methodology used to organize the experiments’ incubator, tendering, and co-design processes was systematized for future implementations. The Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina is conducting a feasibility study focusing on amazon nut waste transformation.
Activities toward a sustainable tourism value chain
Swisscontact started a participatory process with stakeholders in the Madre de Dios tourism value chain. The aim is to design and implement a sustainable destination development strategy for Tambopata.
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining
The Center for Mining and Sustainability Studies of Universidad del Pacífico is conducting a detailed study to understand the current situation of the artisanal and small-scale gold mining value chain in Madre de Dios. The aim is to determine the main challenges in terms of policy, stakeholder participation, as well as financial and market issues. The researchers also expect to identify potential out-of-the-box solutions to reduce negative impacts on the environment and people’s well-being.