The WWF is run at a local level by the following offices...

From Purus to the whole Amazon: mahogany’s comeback

Posted on 1 abril 2011

• Indigenous peoples help repopulate one of the most valuable and threatened timber species in the world, and benefit from sustainable trade.

• The Purus complex is one of the largest and best preserved conservation corridors in the Amazon, and today local successful conservation experiences begin being replicated beyond its borders.

Lima. Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylia) is almost extinct in most of the Amazon. However, the same indigenous inhabitants who once helped control the illegal logging of the species in Peru are now the ones who are starting to export the result of years of conservation and management: wild mahogany seeds.

“The indigenous peoples of Purús began fighting illegal logging, and are now exporting the seeds of the mahogany trees that they work hard to protect to other regions of Peru, and hopefully soon, to all of the Amazon”, stated WWF biologist Jorge Herrera. He has witnessed the evolution of the Purús river region from a forgotten land at the mercy of illegal loggers and hunters to a complex of model protected areas that now export experiences and resources to the rest of the Amazon.

The Purús river is one of the main tributaries of the Amazon. Around it lies the complex formed by the Alto Purús National Park (the largest in Peru) and the Purús Communal Reserve (RCP), created officially in 2004 with the help and technical support of WWF Peru. This vast region of rainforests extends over more than 2,7 million hectares, an area larger than El Salvador, and is inhabited by at least 8 indigenous peoples, including an unknown number of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation.

For years, activities such as illegal logging and hunting exerted great pressure on these singular forests, disturbing the indigenous communities and, even worse, generating unimaginable impacts on the isolated peoples. Now, the indigenous communities have created an organization called ECOPURUS, with the purpose of directly assuming the surveillance of the communal reserve and their territories, thus complementing the actions of the directorate of the park and the communal reserve, which together have been able to control illegal logging and maintaining the peace of the forest.

In this context, three indigenous communities from the RCP (Laureano, Monterrey and Pozo San Martin) have taken a step further, taking on the peculiar task of managing mahogany seeds as a potential source of income. “This is the best proof that conservation can generate direct income for the local population”, pointed out Herrera, who remembered 88 lb of mahogany seeds were harvested in 2010 alone and commercialized in the city of Pucallpa, with the support of the National Service for Protected Natural Areas (SERNANP).

The 88 lb of seeds have not only generated an additional income of nearly USD 5000 for the three communities, but have also been sold to reforesting companies involved in social and environmental responsibility practices that also work in the framework of Payment for Environmental Services, thus closing a circle that benefits not only the population of Purús, but also the forest.

These innovative experiences that combine conservation and economic income have been awakening interest beyond the Purús river. Therefore, the Director of the adjacent Parque Estadual de Chandless, on the other side of the border, in Acre (Brazil), has expressed his interest in learning from the Peruvian side, and is now coordinating the development of exchange workshops with the leaders of ECOPURUS in order to reproduce Peruvian resource management experiences, such as the ones with river turtles and mahogany.

“The indigenous communities have been the protagonists from the beginning. They helped fight illegal logging, they became the guardians of their forests, and now they manage a diversity of resources as part of experiences that benefit them as well other Amazon regions in Peru and beyond”, concluded Herrera.

This work was done in the framework of the Amazon Headwaters Initiative Project, thanks to the support of The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.