Agroforestry In Tropical Land Use With Special Reference To The Peruvian Amazon

Research report on agroforestry in the tropical zone of the Peruvian Amazonia - considers the characteristics and ecological aspects of agroforestry; looks at the evolution of agricultural production and forestry, shifting cultivation and animal production; discusses trends in and prospects for agroforestry, as well as related forestry research. Bibliography, photographs, questionnaire, statistical tables.

This review summarizes the published literature, as well as any available information provided by NGOs or project proponents, on the practice of community forest management (CFM) in the Peruvian Amazon. It provides an overview of literature related to land-use and forest management by rural populations in the Peruvian Amazon, placing this information in the broader context of the forestry sector in Peru. The review describes the different manifestations of CFM in Peru and the most widely studied cases of CFM projects. The document also examines some emerging initiatives, summarizes the main challenges for CFM and highlights important areas for future research. One key finding of this review is that there is a general lack of scientific analyses of CFM in Peru: most information is available only via project reports prepared by project proponents and/or donors. The review stresses that community forest management takes many forms. People throughout the Amazon have long relied on forest resources for their shifting cultivation systems, and timber and NTFPs are central to the livelihoods of many. Typically, forest use has occurred informally with little oversight or control by the state. Beginning in the 1980s, environmental NGOs have introduced CFM initiatives in Peru. To date, most CFM projects focus only on indigenous communities to support timber management; by contrast, scientific studies have focused on forest use within subsistence livelihood systems. Given that there are approximately 2 million non-indigenous rural Amazonians in Peru, the forest footprint and market impacts of non-indigenous smallholder forest management are likely to be much greater than recognized. However, very little is known about these endogenous smallholder-led systems. More research is needed to increase our understanding of the heterogeneity of these systems and the opportunities and challenges that they represent.

This working paper uses remote sensing data and methods to characterize land cover change in four sites in the lowland Peruvian Amazon over a period of three decades (1987-2017). Multi-village landscapes were purposefully selected to include road accessible sites and others only accessible by river. Landscape analysis focused on buffers around the selected villages used to approximate the areas of influence of farmers in these communities. Deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon has been commonly attributed to agriculture expansion by smallholders. This belief falls short in acknowledging that the contribution of smallholder deforestation is mediated by others decisions around infrastructure development. In this analysis, road connected landscapes experienced greater loss of closed-canopy forest while closed canopy forest remained mostly stable in the river sites over the thirty year study period. Results indicated that closed canopy forest loss occurred in parallel with agricultural expansion at the road sites. The findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of local land use dynamics and the role of regional infrastructure development as a driver of forest loss.

Research report on agroforestry in the tropical zone of the Peruvian Amazonia - considers the characteristics and ecological aspects of agroforestry; looks at the evolution of agricultural production and forestry, shifting cultivation and animal production; discusses trends in and prospects for agroforestry, as well as related forestry research. Bibliography, photographs, questionnaire, statistical tables.

This book of selected research papers, originally presented at the "Symposium of Fragile Lands of Latin America—The Search for Sustainable Uses," presents some fresh evidence of the viability of a few "non-conventional" strategies for natural resource development and management.