Land rights in Peru

The Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) is working with local organisations in the Selva Central where the rainforests, which are home to Asháninka and Machiguenga communities, are in serious danger.

Settlers are bringing unsuitable mountain farming techniques; illegal logging is rife (often with the connivance of local elites); illegal coca growing is bringing with it pollution and armed gangs; roads are being built and there are rich deposits of oil and gas under the forest that the state is keen to exploit.

RFUK has been working in the region for nine years. It started helping Asháninka communities, who had been displaced by conflict between the state and the guerrilla group Sendero Luminoso, (the Shining Path), to return home.

Once the communities had resettled, RFUK worked to make sure that the lands and forests were protected formally and legally by supporting local indigenous groups to map and obtain legal titles and to lobby for the recognition of large parts of the area as a Communal Reserve and a National Park. The Park and the Reserve were formally recognised in early 2004.

However, obtaining a formal title is just a beginning. The threats are still there and what is needed now is to support the local people to protect and manage their lands. RFUK is now supporting a range of local NGOs and indigenous groups to develop management plans for their lands and to resist, through training, campaigns and legal cases, the incursion of settlers, coca growers, illegal loggers and oil companies, all of whom have a keen interest in exploiting the rich forest resources.