Processes of Land Use in the Peruvian AmazonSource: IPDRSAuthor:
Jorge ArboccIn Peru, 30% of the land is dedicated to agricultural
use (38,742,465 hectares). Nationwide, 2,246,702 people are engaged
directly in agricultural production, not counting
Processes of Land Use in the Peruvian Amazon
Source: IPDRS
Author: Jorge Arbocc
In Peru, 30% of the land is dedicated to agricultural use
(38,742,465 hectares). Nationwide, 2,246,702 people are engaged
directly in agricultural production, not counting those who are
involved in marketing agricultural products but are not necessarily
part of the production itself (this, according to the 2012
Agricultural Census).
In the northeastern region of Peru, where the Andes meet the
Amazon, is the department of San Martin, where 91,224 farmers tend
an agricultural area of 1,323,017 hectares. In the past 18 years,
the number of farmers has grown by 42% (from 63,966 in the 1994
Census). According to the latest census, agricultural labor appears
to be largely in the hands of men. Of the producers, 78,608 are men
(86%) and 12,459 are women (14%). However, this variable does not
account for a factor that is common among some rural populations,
especially indigenous: that women tend to perform dual agricultural
labor. They support the men in agricultural production for market
while also being responsible for the agricultural production of
food for the household and products for exchange for daily needs
such as medicine and seeds.
In the Northeast Andean-Amazonian region of Peru, 39.8% of the
Economically Active Population (EAP) make their living from
agriculture. In the department of Amazonas, 61.3% of the labor
force is employed in farming; in the case of San Martin, 47.4%;
Loreto, 30.2%; and Ucayali, 24.9%.
In San Martin, commercial agriculture is the largest contributor
to the development of the area, and it provides the greatest number
of jobs through more than 1,000 businesses that exist at the family
level. Commercial agriculture also provides for more than 30% of
the departments gross domestic product, and it makes up an
additional 15% of the EAP. It is also important to note that the
department of San Martin is responsibile for 22% of the coffee
production in the nation.
San Martin contains 93,687 hectares of coffee; 60,048 acres of
pasture (Brizantha or Brachiaria grass); and 46,915 hectares of
cocoa. Another point to note is that: "In San Martin, the cattle
population is now at 228,826 heads of cattle, up 103% compared from
the number recorded in the 1994 census (112,586). The majority of
cattle are the creole type (30%), while in terms of breeds, the
predominant is the Brown Swiss (27%) [1].
Among other things, this significant growth in agriculture and
livestock is due to the growth in the market for land and to
migration. In 1993 alone, more than 30% of the population were
migrants. To this date, no one has calculated a reliable estimate,
but the migrant population is believed to be over 50%. The
migration phenomenon, without a doubt, conflicts with other
priorities, such as conservation and the urgent need of the
indigenous peoples for the certification of their territories.
To date, the Regional Government of San Martin has committed to
reforest 2,525,735 hectares of forests [2]. Peru, in cooperation
with international agreements to tackle climate change, created the
National Forest Conservation Program in 2010, which has committed
to conserve 54 million hectares of tropical dry forests. Among the
forests that the state seeks to safeguard, 19.63% (10.6 million
hectares) is occupied by native communities with land titles, but
there is a large percentage of native communities that have yet to
gain their land titles occupying even more of the forest. In the
San Martin region alone, there are 30 indigenous communities with
land titles, while over 100 communities have yet to receive that
status.
According to data from 2013, the Regional Government of San
Martin had matriculated 428,206.03 hectares in the Public Records
in favor of the Peruvian State for the administration of the
Regional Government under Law 29151 which delineates the exclusive
domain of goods of the state. This is equivalent to 8.35% of the
territory of the region. This legal figure is operated within the
framework of Ecological Economic Zoning(ZEE) adopted by Regional
Ordinance No. 012-2006, and these areas will be set aside as
Conservation and Ecosystem Recovery spaces (ZOCREs), which,
according to the policy of the current regional government, will be
conceded for purposes of conservation, in order to curb predation
and deforestation.
In the same vein, the National Forest Conservation Program for
Climate Change Mitigation (PNCBMCC) has initated its development
through one of the implementation mechanisms of Direct Conditioned
Transfers (TDC) by which the state provides financial incentives
equivalent to 10 soles (US $ 3.64) per hectare of preserved forest
a year to titled native and rural communities who voluntarily
assume the conservation goals of primary forests within their
territories.
In San Martin, until 2009, there was only one conservation
concession: Alto Huayabamba, with an area of 143,928.09 hectares.
After the competition for forest management was trasferred from the
national level to the departments, the regional government pushed
for more conservation concessions, which in early 2013 came to 13
concessions, representing 9.05% of the land in the department with
462,208.31 hectares. In 2013, the concession areas for conservation
reached 1,984,720 hectares, representing almost 40% of the region.
And the conservation goal of conservation for 2014 is to cover at
least 50% of the departmental territory. [3] At present, the
regional government recognizes indigenous communities as holding
230,000 hectares of the total territory of San Martin.
Apart from conservation, another of the major proposals for land
use in San Martin is the production of biodiesel. To date, the
Regional Government has identified 625,601 hectares for the
installation of energycrops and Agro pines.
Obviously, this scenario presents several challenges, which
include:
If you want to conserve forests, you must consider that much of
those remaining are untitled territories of indigenous communities
belonging to Shawi and Kishwa peoples. To safeguard these areas, it
is necessary to support collective land titling for these
communities and the development of agricultural practices which
value their knowledge and are beneficial to forest and natural
environments in general.
To keep constant migration from continuing to increase pressure
on the land, it is necessary to help farmers increase the potential
of existing agricultural land. The Amazonian soil is very poor and
it is degraded easily. It is extremely acidic and loses its worth
when the land is washed out as a consequence of deforestation. Its
fragility demands favorable agricultural practices within the
forests.
Monocultural tree farming systems do not favor environmental
conservation, but rather, promote the spread of pests and loss of
soil quality, creating the need for increased use of fertilizers
and pesticides. Furthermore, they require elevated productivity per
hectare, while, to date, the production levels of both conventional
and unconventional methods, are very low.
The Amazon is about to realize a major impact as a result of the
development of the inter-oceanic road which will unite the ports of
Brazil and Peru. It is necessary to anticipate the possible
scenarios of this situation and anticipate the effects that it will
have on migration, conservation processes, and, in general, on the
various practices that affect the fragile Amazonian territory and
its biodiversity.
These are just some of the issues that our states must evaluate,
and they are as much present in the Amazon region in general as in
small regions like San Martin.
We will soon come together for an important meeting on climate
change that will be held in December in Peru (COP20), and we need
to have greater clarity in regards to these processes and their
possible alternatives.
We hope that our citizens and states are more aware than ever
that tackling climate change and the loss of our alimentative
autonomy depends largely on the decisions that we assume.
Jorge Arbocc is a Peruvian anthropologist.
[1] Source:
http://diariovoces.com.pe/9830/en-san-martin-existen-mas-de-91-mil-productores-agropecuarios#ixzz32OE5oG00
[2] An important fact: In 1983, the area deforested San Martin
had already reached 1,386,214 hectares.
[3] Information collected as part of a consultancy hired by Paz
y Esperanza to assess the status of regional territorial
management. 2013.
