© Reneé Vilchez | Yunkawasi
Local communities involved in the proposed Regional Conservation Area (RCA) Bosques Nublados de Mayunmarca, in Ayacucho, participated in spaces for dialogue and participatory learning where they shared their expectations and contributed their knowledge for the future management of this initiative in their territories. Through community workshops, assemblies and talking maps, the second stage of the process to establish this new protected area that seeks to conserve more than 51,000 hectares of Andean-Amazonian forests in central Peru continues.
The proposed ACR is located in the districts of Anco, Chungui and Oronccoy, in the province of La Mar, and is home to ecosystems that connect the Andes with the Amazon. Its mountains and cloud forests feed the Churca, Esmeralda and Chupón watersheds, which provide water to numerous communities and thousands of people, as well as being home to great biodiversity. This initiative seeks to protect these territories of life, which are essential for water security and climate stability in the region.
Cloud forests on the road to the rural community of Santo Domingo de Huecchues, in the district of Chungui, in the center of the proposed ACR Mayunmarca Cloud Forests.
© Reneé Vilchez | Yunkawasi
Information process with a cross-cultural approach
During the last few months, the technical team of the Regional Management of Natural Resources and Environmental Management (GRRNGA) of the Regional Government of Ayacucho, with the support of Yunkawasi, developed the informative process of this proposal and carried out the social information gathering for the Preliminary Identification Report of Indigenous or Native Peoples (IIPIO), in coordination with the Ministry of Culture.
The field visits made it possible to gather the perceptions of the indigenous communities located in this landscape, through tools and spaces characterized by intercultural dialogue, transparency and respect for local knowledge. A total of 13 localities have been visited so far, with the objective of promoting a participatory conservation of the territory, integrating the voices of the communities in each step of this process.
Informative workshop in the rural community of Belén Chapi, of the Quechua indigenous people, in the district of Oronccoy, province of La Mar, Ayacucho.
© Reneé Vilchez | Yunkawasi
A key step towards the protection of Ayacucho's Andean ecosystems
The ACR proposal seeks to ensure the continuity of the territories of life that sustain the communities and an outstanding diversity of fauna and flora. More than 128 bird species have been recorded in this area, 7 of which are endemic to Peru, such as the Ayacucho thistletail (Asthenes ayacuchensis), the black-eyed scrub (Atlapetes melanopsis) and Taczanowski's partridge (Nothoprocta taczanowskii).
As part of the next actions, the technical team is preparing for an ornithological expedition with the communities of Belén Chapi, Santo Domingo de Huecchues and Unión Libertad de Rumichaca, which will deepen the knowledge about the diversity of birds in the RCA proposal and strengthen its appreciation in the local allied communities.
An alliance for the territories of life in the Central Andes of Peru
The Mayunmarca Cloud Forest RCA proposal is in the second stage of its establishment process and is led by the Regional Government of Ayacucho, with the support of Yunkawasi, Andes Amazon Fund and the Conserva Aves Initiative, through the project “Participative Conservation of the Tropical Andes in the Department of Ayacucho”.
Local and provincial municipalities have also joined this initiative, which together with Yunkawasi and the Ministry of the Environment, have been implementing environmental education kits to strengthen public awareness and commitment to the protection of cloud forests and their biodiversity.
Black-eyed scrub-hawk (Atlapetes melanopsis), a Peruvian endemic bird whose range is restricted to the eastern Andes of central Peru, including the proposed Mayunmarca Cloud Forest RCA. © Joel Ayala
