Regional System of Conservation Areas, Loreto

NCI is working with the Regional government and  local institutions to create a conservation system for Loreto, Peru's largest Region with 90 million acres of Amazon forests, many of which remain untouched. Together with the Regional Government and the Institute for Investigation of the Peruvian Amazon (IIAP), we are developing a strategy of productive conservation, in which local populations are trained to better manage and conserve their natural resources. This program aims to conserve biodiversity of the region as a resource for present and future generations, while substantially improving the livelihoods of local populations.

The Amazon basin is the most biologically diverse ecosystem in Peru with a mosaic of habitats, created by differing soil conditions, altitude and river dynamics. These include white water forests, black water forests, varzea and some of the best examples in the Americas of rare white sand forests (species poor but with high endemism). Loreto also has some elements of the Andean ecosystems in its western extremes, and of the biologically diverse Cordillera del Condor in the northwest. Overall, this assembly of habitats harbors a very high diversity of species, some of them found only in Loreto.

However, this region faces increasing pressures from a growing population and unsustainable economic activities that exploit and deplete natural resources for short-term gains. As a result there has been a steady depletion of economically valued natural resources, notably the large game and fish species, as well as fine woods.  Through the Program for Conservation, Management and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity in the Region of Loreto (PROCREL) we hope to establish a new paradigm of sustainable development based on sound resource conservation.

In 2006, the regional and local governments, NGOs and other stakeholders joined together to draw up PROCREL, which has been officially approved by the Regional government. PROCREL aims to promote sustainable development of local peoples, develop a system of Regional Conservation Areas, and maintain the ecological and evolutionary processes essential to the health of the Amazon ecosystems of Loreto. This ambitious program has the potential to significantly improve the livelihoods of rural residents of Loreto, and to place millions of hectares under improved management for conservation and sustainable development purposes.

In July 2007, the second phase of PROCREL will commence, and a managing institution will be established within the Regional government.  During this phase an additional 6-7 areas will be declared, and the operational infrastructure established.