Case Studies: 7. A Tradition of Change: The dynamic relationship between biodiversity and society in Sector Muyuy, Peru
International Conference on
Biodiversity and Society
Columbia University Earth
Institute
UNESCO
May 22-25, 2001
Throughout the tropics, small-holder farmers have developed diverse and complex
management and production systems that preserve or even build significant diversity
while coping with physical limitations and environmental transformations, as
well as economic changes. These include forest management systems that manipulate
the natural regeneration of multiple species to increase the proportion of economically
valuable timber, fruits, and medicinals while in some instances increasing rather
than reducing tree species diversity. The multiple layers that characterize
agro-forestry systems created and managed by small holders generate habitat
diversity for the continued reproduction of numerous plant and animal species.
The practice of intercropping helps small-holder farmers produce crops while
maintaining high levels of agro-biodiversity and other forms of biological diversity
in their plots.
The Sector Muyuy Case Study (SMCS), focusing on a rural area neighboring Iquitos,
the largest city of Peruvian Amazonia, will highlight extraordinary examples
of managed biodiversity. The inhabitants of this area have developed complex
and diverse resource management and production technologies that allow them
to produce for a dynamic urban market without converting the forested landscape
into cattle ranches or mono-specific industrial plantations. The small framers
and forest managers of Muyuy also respond effectively to a highly dynamic and
unpredictable floodplain environment.
Muyuy communities have also developed some of the most innovative examples of
community-based conservation of lake and forest resources in Pervuvian Amazonia.
These technologies and the experiences of people who are using them offer notable
opportunities for promoting conservation and resolving conflicts between conservation
and development goals.
Multi-Stakeholder Workshops
The
multi-stakeholder workshop for the Sector Muyuy Case Study was held at the IIAP
(Insitute for Research on the Peruvian Amazon) in Iquitos, Peru, on February
5th - 8th, 2001. Participants in the workshop included representatives from
the Peruvian Agricultural Service, the environmental sciences and agronomy professors
from the National University of the Peruvian Amazon (UNAP), local small-holder
agriculturalists, representatives from the Maimiraua Sustainable Agriculture
Reserve in Brazil, and research students from IIAP and CERC. The workshop was
led by Miguel Pinedo Vasquez (CERC), Jose Barletti (UNAP) and Dennis del Castillo
(Director of IIAP).
The
goal of the workshop was to increase communication between Peruvian research
and policy circles and local farmers, and, in particular, to increase awareness
of the importance of local initiatives in agrobiodiversity conservation. A long
term goal of the workshop was to produce policy recommendations for the incorporation
of local initiatives for conservation and development, as well as the regulation
of resource access and tenure of land and water resources.
Collaborators and Institutional Affiliates
The SMCS is being prepared under the leadership of Dr. Miguel Pinedo-Vasquez of CERC, along with team of Peruvian researchers and local stakeholders.