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-productoresagropecuarios#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.