Around 80% of Peru's deforestation is due to unsustainable practices by small-scale (1-5 ha) family farmers living in the agricultural frontier of the Amazon, who lack secure land tenure rights. The country’s new Agroforestry Concessions (AC) system was specifically created by Peru's recent forestry legal framework to provide these family farmers with an avenue for land tenure formalization in the agriculture-forest landscape, through long-term, renewable contracts that are conditional on avoiding clearing more land, and employing other sustainable practices for soil and water conservation. This new system could impact a large part of the landscape where deforestation currently occurs: ICRAF has estimated that more than 120,000 family farmers across a million hectares could benefit from this new system. Further, emerging zero-deforestation markets and public incentives are expected to bring in the necessary incentives for the AC system to thrive.

This side event will discuss the opportunities and challenges of rolling out the AC system in Peru, as an example of an innovative policy that aligns key economic development, climate change, and biodiversity goals in one instrument. Itwill present the intermediate results of the AgroFor project which is currently being implemented by GGGI, ICRAF, and SPDA to support the Peruvian government to create the enabling conditions for the successful implementation of ACs. This project is based on a bottom-up approach to learn from pilot implementation areas that inform public policy and regulations. The facilitators will convene a panel comprised of practitioners and scientists of the project organizations, Peruvian government officials (at both the national and subnational levels), and a representative from the local organizations of family farmers, in a hybrid physical-virtual participation format. Panelists and participants will also be encouraged to discuss opportunities for using the AC system in other contexts and landscapes.

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