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THE POLITICS of SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT in the PERUVIAN AMAZON RAINFOREST Karen Konkoly View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Lehigh University: Lehigh Preserve Lehigh University Lehigh Preserve Volume 35 - Leveraging Peru's Economic Potential Perspectives on Business and Economics (2017) 2017 The olitP ics of Sustainable Development in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest Karen Konkoly Lehigh University Follow this and additional works at: https://preserve.lehigh.edu/perspectives-v35 Recommended Citation Konkoly, Karen, "The oP litics of Sustainable Development in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest" (2017). Volume 35 - Leveraging Peru's Economic Potential (2017). 11. https://preserve.lehigh.edu/perspectives-v35/11 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Perspectives on Business and Economics at Lehigh Preserve. It has been accepted for inclusion in Volume 35 - Leveraging Peru's Economic Potential (2017) by an authorized administrator of Lehigh Preserve. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE POLITICS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE PERUVIAN AMAZON RAINFOREST Karen Konkoly Introduction Amazon. To effectively counter deforestation, Peru should align priorities across interest In the Peruvian Amazon rainforest groups and effectively allocate resources to reside 1,816 species of birds; 25,000 species of subnational governments so that policies can plants; 515 species of mammals; and 3 million play out as they are intended. Because small- people (Gamboa; “Geography, Agriculture…”). scale agriculture constitutes the majority Maintaining the rainforest is crucial for of deforestation and is especially prevalent ecological diversity, for carbon retention, in the northern Amazon basin, I propose a as a basis for fair and equitable economic sustainable alternative industry in that region development of the communities living there, with the potential to benefit both small farmers and for its potential to increase GDP. Yet, profit- and the agricultural sector. By developing a oriented large-scale development interests cohesive, collective wisdom about the value of endanger the forest by opening up land to the rainforest, Peru can work toward a holistic destruction from small-scale agriculture. forest policy that accounts for all these factors. Peruvian Amazonia is replete with natural resources that should be utilized sustainably Background with benefits flowing to local communities. In this article, I examine the current As of 2014, the Peruvian Amazon politics of land usage and how issues rainforest spans 69 million hectares, covering contribute to deforestation. After discussing 60 percent of Peru’s total land area (Piu and legislative concerns, I examine ways for Peru Menton). Although Peru historically has had to maintain and improve economic growth lower rates of deforestation than neighboring to equitably benefit communities in the countries like Brazil, deforestation has 67 accelerated in recent years. Between 2001 directly to the most hectares of forest cleared, and 2014, 1.65 million hectares of forest have migrant farmers often slash and burn near been lost (Piu and Menton). According to areas of the jungle already segmented by larger Peru’s Forestry and Wildlife Law of 2011 (Law deforesting projects. From 1999 to 2005, for No. 27308, Article 7), it is illegal to engage instance, three-fourths of all deforestation in any activity that affects forest coverage on and forest degradation occurred within 20 land deemed most suitable for maintaining km of a road (Piu and Menton, p. 12). In standing forest (“Deforestation…,” p. 8). general, the Peruvian government views the However, profit-oriented companies are lack of infrastructure in rainforest areas as often the ones funding land classification, an obstacle to development. Agricultural, resulting in primary forest areas classified as mining, private, and other interests push for suitable for agriculture or other development development projects to maximize economic projects and thus deforested. Moreover, weak gain without prioritizing the environmental law enforcement enables illegal developers upkeep to sustain those industries in the long in the logging, mining, and agricultural run. These deforesting development projects industries to pursue deforesting projects that can occur legally because of the legislative further segment the rainforest. In total, both ambiguity surrounding land classification and government-approved and illegal development in turn open up areas for further small-scale projects are responsible for less than half of the agricultural deforestation. damage. Most deforestation is due to small- scale migrant farming. From 2000 to 2009, Land Classification for instance, about 75 percent of the forest cleared was on plots of one-half hectare or less Currently, the Ministry of Agriculture (Gutierrez-Velez and MacDicken). (MINAGRI) is in charge of classifying land Small-scale farming creates such a through a process called best land use capacity large impact because it is common for small (BLUC). BLUC classifications determine farmers to migrate, slashing and burning whether land is most productive when used small plots of land every three to five years for various types of cultivation, forestry, or to raise subsistence crops for their families. protection (“Deforestation…,” p. 8). However, There is some disagreement about the factors BLUC assessments are based on the “climactic and soil characteristics” of land, without underlying slash-and-burn forestry. According necessarily considering whether that land to Ravikumar and colleagues (p. 3), much slash- is currently covered by rainforest. Thus, if and-burn forestry is a traditional, sustainable a forested area is deemed most suitable for form of agriculture cyclic agroforestry, which cultivation, it could be sold as a concession to involves growing a sequence of ground and tree a plantation developer and deforested. BLUC crops and then letting fields lay fallow every assessments are subject to bias, often funded few decades to regain fertility. The prevailing by the very companies pursuing development view, however, is that in recent years a majority projects, and few subnational governments of small farmers are landless migrants, often have the resources to verify their accuracy seeking refuge from the even greater poverty (“Deforestation…,” p. 4). In this way, Peru’s in Peru’s mountain regions. The population government condones deforesting projects like influx to the jungle means that fallow fields mining and agricultural plantations. cannot adequately rejuvenate before the next The Peruvian Ministry of the migrants move in, perpetuating the slash-and- Environment (MINAM) has a different agenda, burn cycle (“Conservation…”). To fund other establishing several policies in hopes of necessities, many of these farmers grow cash achieving zero net deforestation by 2020. In crops, like coca,1 or partake in smaller-scale the time since MINAM was created in 2008, illegal logging or mining operations. the agency has implemented a more thorough Although small-scale farming leads process, zonificación ecológica económica 1Coca is the main ingredient in cocaine, of which Peru (ecological and economic zoning [ZEE]), to is a leading producer. classify forestlands as suitable for economic 68 activity or conservation. Theoretically, friendly forms of forest production, like MINAM develops ZEE plans in coordination sustainable NTFP extraction (discussed later). with regional governments, and only already Much unclassified land is concentrated deforested regions are allotted for agricultural in the northern region of Loreto and other or mining projects. In practice, however, remote areas lacking studies to determine ZEE plans are subordinate to the BLUC BLUC assessments. Although large-scale classification procedure. MINAM’s lack of deforestation is relatively rare in Loreto, the power relative to other government sectors region nevertheless experiences a significant prevents environmental concerns from getting amount of total deforestation. For example, in adequate consideration in land use decisions. 2010–2011, Loreto suffered more deforestation These conflicting policies at the national level than any other region in Peru, about 36,200 are inherited by subnational governments that hectares of forest (Piu and Menton, p. 9). are ill equipped to deal with them (Gustafsson). The deforestation problem on remaining Without adequate human and financial unclassified lands suggests that it is important resources at the subnational level, regions are to complete land classification as quickly also susceptible to illegal deforestation from as possible, but under the current political logging, gold mining, and other industries. To atmosphere, completing land classification understand how these issues play out, I examine will not be enough. Even if all the remaining the current ownership and management of land were classified, legal deforestation Peru’s rainforest land. would continue. In the next section, I discuss how legislative ambiguity creates a political Current Land Usage environment that promotes large-scale deforestation and problems that subnational Approximately 20 percent of the rainforest governments inherit. in Peru is owned by communities or reserved for indigenous populations, who generally Problems with Decentralization seek to keep the forest intact. Nearly all the remaining forestland is owned by the Peruvian On the surface, Peru’s regional national government. Protected areas account governments seem like
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