He April 22nd, the following initiatives were announced selected of the contest Entrepreneurs by Nature 2026, ACR+ category, which will promote sustainable productive initiatives in Regional Conservation Areas. It shows that biodiversity conservation can become a concrete source of economic development for communities.
The contest, promoted by the Ministry of the Environment through the SERNANP, promotes and strengthens initiatives based on the sustainable use of natural resources in Natural Protected Areas (NPAs), as well as in Regional Conservation Areas (RCAs) and Private Conservation Areas (PCAs), integrating the protection of ecosystems with the generation of income and opportunities in the territories.
To date, the contest has achieved concrete results: more than 200 enterprises supported, impacting more than 6,000 families and promoting the sustainable management of more than 5,000 hectares. These results reflect the potential of bio-businesses and sustainable enterprises to boost local economies without compromising conservation.
For the ACR+ category, funding of S/. 573,486 has been earmarked to promote 4 initiatives and 8 enterprises in development, such as sustainable tourism, responsible production, meliponiculture, natural resource use and other businesses compatible with conservation. These proposals not only seek to generate income for local communities, but also to protect biodiversity and ecosystems.
These initiatives will be implemented in 8 Regional Conservation Areas nationwide, located in the departments of San Martin, Cusco, Piura, Tacna and Amazonas. This allows the impact of the contest to be decentralized, benefiting diverse territories of the country and promoting sustainable development in different regional realities.
After a process that included a three-month national call for applications, coordination with various institutions, technical workshops and orientation spaces for applicants, twenty-five applications were evaluated and as a result, twelve were selected initiatives that, after a technical adjustment process, will be able to access funds from S/30,000 (for pilot initiatives) up to S/. 60,000 soles (developed ventures) depending on the characteristics of each category:
Phase: Idea with Pilot
- Strengthening of the Cooperative Territorios Vivos for the Promotion of Bioeconomy and Ecosystem Services in the RCA Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests of the Marañón. - Amazonas / Marañon Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests Regional Conservation Area].
- Guardian's Route: Discover the Dry Forest - [Piura / Área de Conservación Regional Bosque Seco Salitral - Huarmaca].
- Implementation and validation of a pilot integrated nature tourism service, based on lodging, food and low environmental impact hikes, managed by a local family with female leadership in the village of Phinaya, within the Ausangate Regional Conservation Area - [Cusco / ACR Ausangate Regional Conservation Area.
- To implement a Sustainable Ecological Refuge oriented to nature tourism, environmental education and experiential tourism within the Chuyapi Urusayhua Regional Conservation Area, specifically in the Frontera Esmeralda sector, located in the San Miguel Valley, Vilcabamba district, La Convención province, Cusco region. - Cusco / Chuyapi - Urusayhua Regional Conservation Area].
Phase 2: Validation
- Strengthening of the value chain of native bee honey through sustainable meliponiculture in strategic alliance and fair trade between IMPACT360 S.A.C. - Mel de Montaña S.A.C. and local producers linked to the ACR Bosques de Shunte and Mishollo, province of Tocache, San Martin region. - San Martín / Shunte and Mishollo Forests Regional Conservation Area].
- Strengthening frog watching ecotourism as a bioindicator of ecosystem health for biodiversity conservation within the Cordillera Escalera RCA, San Martín. - San Martín / Cordillera Escalera Regional Conservation Area.
- Validation of a community model of wellness and conservation tourism based on sustainable cultivation, environmental interpretation and responsible valuation of Amazonian medicinal plants in the area of influence of the Cordillera Escalera Regional Conservation Area. - San Martín / Cordillera Escalera Regional Conservation Area.
- Conservation is in our genes: protection of high Andean grasslands and headwaters in the Vilacota Maure RCA to strengthen sustainable production, artisanal processing and marketing of alpaca fiber. - Tacna/ Vilacota Maure Regional Conservation Area].
- Production and Commercialization of Sustainable Handicrafts with Cultural Identity of the Asociación de Artesanos Picaflor Andino. - Cusco / The Tres Cañones Regional Conservation Area].
- Quri Munay. - Tacna / Vilacota Maure Regional Conservation Area].
- Reconversion and valorization of the alpaca as an asset of high genetic value for the economic sustainability of the producer and the conservation of bofedales within the ACR Ausangate. - Cusco / Ausangate Regional Conservation Area].
- Improvement and development of community tourism capacities in the Alto Shilcayo ecotourism circuit in the district of Banda de Shilcayo-San Martin, San Martin region. - San Martín / Regional Conservation Area - Cordillera Escalera].
Through Entrepreneurs by Nature, Profonanpe reaffirms its commitment to articulate efforts to promote solutions that demonstrate that biodiversity conservation and economic development can move forward together for the benefit of people and ecosystems.
