Posted on June, 24 2016

This Forest and Climate Significant Story captures the process through which community members, regional government officials, civil society members, indigenous groups, and WWF came to work together to lay the foundation for green development in Peru’s Madre de Dios region. They overcame a lack of resources, support, and trust to build new partnerships, and create capacities that range from the technical know-how of mapping deforestation and forest degradation to the ability to incorporate indigenous worldviews and rights in planning for the region’s future. 

By fostering a truly participatory process, the stakeholders in this shared journey made it possible for previously marginalized voices to be heard and for significant changes to take place. Their work has spurred the design of an updated regional development plan that safeguards the sustainable use of natural resources and the preservation of indigenous territories and traditional livelihoods, and enforces transparency, gender equity, and adaptation to climate change. Their efforts also helped establish the framework for a regional environmental authority to strengthen environmental governance in Madre de Dios, and created a local base of knowledge and resiliency to sustain that governance over time. These successes in Madre de Dios are now informing and inspiring other initiatives, both at the local community level and on the national scale.