More than 500 hectares of degraded forest in Madre de Dios will be restored

Posted on 1 diciembre 2023

126 thousand plants from more than 30 species of native trees, including vulnerable or threatened states such as mahogany, brazil nut and shihuahuaco, will give life to degraded soils.

Peru has a unique natural wealth. More than 2,500 timber species, 4,447 species of diurnal butterflies, 1,857 birds, among other surprising figures, showing the great biodiversity that this territory has, according to MINAM, 2021.

Despite this, its forests are under constant threat. Between 2001 and 2021, the country lost around 2.8 million hectares of forest (Geobosques, 2022). The deterioration and destruction of this resource is still an enormous challenge for Peru to fulfill its climate commitments.

For this reason, WWF works to conserve threatened forests and recover their connectivity. At the same time, it promotes the sustainable use of natural resources, generating benefits for local communities, climate and biodiversity.

In this context, on November 25, in Madre de Dios, the first reforestation campaign “Conserving ecologically valuable forests” was carried out. Volunteers and cattle ranchers who seek the restoration of the forest on their private lands participated in it.

“A restoration that contributes to ecological connectivity is possible if we do a previous analysis to connect the remaining forests. Then, areas are prioritized and native species are chosen in a way that they play a strategic role in the area to be restored: providing shade, producing organic layer, etc. In addition, we have joined forces with the Iberia-Tahuamanu Public Technological Higher Education Institute to achieve the production of forest species,” highlighted Alipse Valera, WWF forestry specialist.

“Each seed used in the plant nursery has been properly registered, the location and conditions of the seed tree from which it was collected are known, for example, if it was healthy, if it grew straight or if it is susceptible to fungi. In this way we ensure the health of future trees," comments Manuel Reyes Ravelo Instituto Superior Tecnológico de Iberia Director.

Due to the articulated work, it is expected that by 2026, 126 thousand plants of more than 30 species of native trees, including some in vulnerable or threatened state such as mahogany, brazil nut and shihuahuaco, will have been planted and life will be restored to 500 hectares of degraded soils.