Blog Zero deforestation business models for cocoa and oil palm consolidated in Peru

The Sustainable Amazon Business (SAB) project, led by the Bioversity International Alliance and CIAT, concludes its activities in the Ucayali region, contributing to the reduction of deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon

The Ucayali region in Peru represents a major challenge for the conservation of tropical forests due to the deforestation rates registered between 2001 and 2021, where it accumulates 506,423 hectares of forest loss according to official data. However, the region has significant opportunities to recover ecosystems degraded by deforestation, while improving the livelihoods of small producers. At the national and regional levels, actions are converging to contribute to the country's commitments to address the effects of climate change. The SAB project designed and implemented two zero deforestation business models in the cocoa and oil palm chains in the Ucayali region to help halt the loss of Amazonian forests in the country. In this way, the project addressed the problems linked to the loss of tropical forests and brought the businesses into line with current international trade regulations.

Last September, the results of the SAB project were presented in Lima to an audience from the public, financial and civil society sectors. During the event, the Central Committee for the Development of Curimaná, which produces and sells certified cocoa to international markets, shared the main impacts of the implementation of the zero deforestation business model. Carlos Pérez, manager of the organization, said "we have been able to identify the commitments assumed by the producers, such as having a productive activity without pressure on the forests and helping their family economy. It is in this context that we defined, together with the producer partners, what is zero deforestation cocoa? At the same time we worked on the micro-zoning of the plots and proposals for conservation areas with sensitized and committed partners".


For his part, the president of the Central Committee of Palm Growers of Ucayali, Oscar Neyra, shared that through the SAB project it has been demonstrated that it is possible to conserve the forest and each association is committed to report their conservation areas. A group of oil palm producers linked to the extractive company Oleaginosas Amazónicas S.A. implemented practices to reduce their GHG emissions while establishing forest conservation areas on their land. The company has strengthened its sustainability area by focusing on monitoring the producer to verify that the installation of new areas does not affect tropical forests.
In order to have a system to verify the impacts of the zero deforestation business model, a system for monitoring, reporting and verification of socio-environmental indicators was designed for both pilot business models. The system seeks to provide information to the commercial and financial sector seeking sustainable investments in agricultural chains; in addition to providing verifiable information for reporting on compliance with GHG reduction goals.

A central issue in the cocoa and palm oil chains has been the consensus on their future. The multiple stakeholders in both chains agree on seeking to grow and strengthen their sectors while avoiding damage to the Amazon forests. Among the strategies to achieve this vision, short-term results have been demonstrated in the implementation of zero deforestation business models, which integrate low-emission production practices, monitoring systems and the strengthening of governance for environmental sustainability in the private sector. Likewise, the need to work together with the public sector has been demonstrated, given that enabling conditions are required to promote value chains and deforestation-free territories.

The sense of urgency caused by the new market conditions, but especially by the climate emergency, has awakened the willingness of chain actors to make commitments and commit resources to address this problem. In the words of Yovita Ivanova, coordinator of the SAB project, "it is a complex problem that cannot be solved at a single level; concrete actions are required from the market, the financial sector, applied research, producers and consumers to encourage consumption and production free of deforestation.

For more information on the results, impacts and publications developed in the framework of the SAB project, please click on this link.

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