USAID/Peru
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Introduction
With over 70 million hectares of forests—nearly twice the size of Germany—Peru has the second largest Amazonian forest coverage after Brazil. This extensive territory represents one of the country’s largest pillars of natural resources, providing ecosystem services, climate regulation, protection of watersheds, and provision of timber and non-timber forest products, contributing significantly to the local economy.
Unfortunately, deforestation in Peru’s Amazonian forests is gravely affecting those ecosystems. In 2018, deforestation loss in the Peruvian Amazon averaged 155 thousand hectares —roughly the size of Mexico City—marking an increase from the number of hectares lost yearly since 2001. This is the context in which the USAID Securing a Sustainable, Profitable, and Inclusive Forest Sector in Peru (Pro-Bosques) Activity is being implemented.
As part of USAID’s Amazonia Verde Project’s Forestry Program, the five-year Activity (2018–2023) aims to provide the pillars for a sustainable, legal, inclusive and profitable forest sector in the country, as a means to sustainable manage forest resources to conserve biodiversity, reduce carbon emissions, increase competitiveness, combat illegal logging and uphold the bilateral trade agreement.
Funded by the USAID/Peru Mission, Pro Bosques focuses on strengthening forest governance, promoting private sector engagement and fostering indigenous empowerment, considering a cross-cutting gender and social inclusion approach. The Activity works hand in hand with the Government of Peru (GOP) forest agencies, private enterprises, forest concession holders and local indigenous communities, to strengthen the monitoring and enforcement of the Peruvian forest sector, aiming to increase the legal timber supply for international and domestic use.
Activity Components
Component 1: Forest Governance & Sustainability
Pro-Bosques strengthens monitoring and law enforcement in the forest sector to increase legal timber for international and domestic use.
Component 2: Forest Competitiveness
Pro-Bosques improves private sector engagement in forest sector activities through increased efficiency in the use and transformation of forest resources, reducing deforestation rates and illegal logging.
Component 3: Indigenous Empowerment
Pro-Bosques supports indigenous communities’ rights and resources through sustainable forest management.
FEATURED RESOURCE: Women’s Contribution to the Sustainable Management of Amazonian Forests in Peru
Broadcasted live as part of the International Women’s Day celebrations
Pro-Bosques strives to bridge inequality gaps through its intervention across the Peruvian Amazon. Our Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) strategy seeks to identify best practices to promote the inclusion of women and traditionally underserved groups such as indigenous peoples, amplifying their voices through different platforms and promoting their participation in the forest value chain.
