The project, financed with $37.5 million by the Green Climate Fund, represents a new milestone for the conservation of more than 15 million hectares in the Peruvian Amazon.
The initiative “Natural Heritage of Peru – Amazon and Climate: Effective Management of Protected Natural Areas in the Peruvian Amazon for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
The "climate" project will have a total funding of $74.5 million, which includes $37 million in co-financing, and will also seek to improve the resilience of indigenous peoples living in Protected Natural Areas and their areas of influence.
This initiative is driven by the Peruvian State, through the Ministry of the Environment, the National Service of Natural Protected Areas (Sernanp) with the support of Profonanpe, WWF and eight indigenous organizations, which aim to improve the management and ensure the financial sustainability of 25 natural protected areas and four buffer zones, covering approximately 18 % of the Peruvian Amazon.
This initiative will strengthen the management and financial sustainability of 25 Protected Natural Areas
“We celebrate the approval of the project, which not only strengthens the care of our protected areas together with indigenous organizations, guaranteeing their protection and long-term sustainability; but will also reinforce one of the main strategies that the Environment sector has been promoting, which is to ensure the conservation of our biodiversity to contribute to the development and improvement of the quality of life of the communities,” said José Carlos Nieto, executive president of Sernanp.
In a coordinated manner, Sernanp and Profonanpe will be in charge of the climate change mitigation component through the effective management of Protected Natural Areas, while WWF Peru and the eight indigenous organizations will lead the climate adaptation component through resilient productive practices and ecosystem-based solutions in 30 communities.
“This project allows us to contribute to the sustainability of Protected Natural Areas and continue supporting the effective management of 15.8 million hectares in the Amazon. We hope that in the next seven years, we will enable more than 10,000 people to adopt resilient production strategies to conserve our biodiversity.”,” explained Anton Willems, Executive Director of Profonanpe.
Among the proposed goals, it is estimated that the project will prevent the emission of approximately 1.8 million tons of carbon dioxide, improve the management of 15.8 million hectares and directly benefit more than 33,000 people, including nearly 12,000 who will adopt climate-resilient production strategies.
Likewise, the financing contemplates the sustainability of conservation for 25 years, through the strengthening of mechanisms such as tourism income, payments for ecosystem services related to water (MERESE) and environmental compensation schemes.
Sustainability for the Amazon
The Natural Heritage of Peru initiative, announced in 2019, will close an estimated $5.3 million annual funding gap for Peru's system of Protected Natural Areas. It is also projected to mobilize an additional $131 million over the next 25 years, consolidating a sustainable financing framework for the conservation of the Peruvian Amazon.
Climate resilience led by indigenous peoples
The project will also invest in indigenous-led climate change adaptation through the implementation of ecosystem-based solutions and practices
resilient productive projects in 30 indigenous communities, additionally benefiting 162 communities.
The Natural Heritage of Peru initiative has the support of the Peruvian State, the Ministry of the Environment, Sernanp, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, WWF, Profonanpe, and international partners such as the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Andes Amazon Fund, as well as German financial cooperation, through the German Development Bank KfW and Bezos Earth Fund.
Source: WWF
