Preparing for REDD: Forest Governance Challenges in Peru's Central Selva

Abstract

Recent rises in levels of tropical deforestation across the Peruvian Amazon, along with the country's interest in pursuing a reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) agenda, raise important questions regarding levels of forest governance and institutional capacity in the region. This research adopts a political ecology approach to examine forest governance in Peru's Central Selva region. Semi-structured key informant interviews were carried out in Lima, Oxapampa, and communities across the western buffer zone of the Yanachaga-Chemillen National Park. The region's history highlights the nature of the exploitative activities which lead to the present institutional and floristic conditions, while a geopolitical dichotomy has played an important role in preventing the formation of a common vision for regional development. The state authorities are found to be critically under-capacitated for their remit, while NGO efforts in the area appear disperse and uncoordinated. National market forces, along with national Amazonian settlement policy, are found to have the greatest influence on land use. The relative lack of state presence, inappropriate institutions, and extractive economy suggest that the region is currently institutionally unequipped to undertake and govern a REDD initiative. Through studies like the one presented here it is possible to gain a thorough understanding of local governance workings to ground and contextualize REDD in local realities.