Until recently, Peru's forests were very badly managed. Under a 1975 forestry law, short-term harvesting contracts were awarded to large numbers of itinerant loggers who moved from area to area, cutting down trees without the slightest consideration for the sustainable management of the forests.
This system ended with the introduction of a new forestry law in mid-2000. Now the government awards long-term concessions, mostly to associations of small-scale forest extractors, and requires applicants to submit management plans as part of the process.
But replacing a bad law with a good one was not itself enough to ensure good forest management. That is why a group of organizations got together to support the new forestry regulations through a comprehensive training project. The partners in the project include CIFOR, the Peruvian National Resource Management Agency (INRENA) and the Forest Development Fund (FONDEBOSQUE).
The project has concentrated its efforts on three government departments which account for 80 percent of the production forests in the Peruvian Amazon. The first phase consisted of four workshops attended by over 130 forestry professionals who advise or work with timber concessionaires. These resulted in a set of guidelines for forest management plans, which were published in September 2003 by INRENA.
The second phase consisted of a number of training courses for professionals and technicians on the planning, application and evaluation of good forest management techniques. Over 230 professionals and technicians attended. The third phase introduced the techniques involved in reduced impact logging to 51 chainsaw and tractor operators. The final phase of the project involved plans for a long-term programme on training and extension and the publication of field manuals for trainers.
According to Cesar Sabogal, CIFOR Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the researcher responsible for the initiative with INRENA and FONDEBOSQUE, the project immediately created a number of expectations from different forestry actors and stakeholders.
"Just the large number of people who got together to develop new regulations for forest management plans and take part in the fifteen training courses is a good measure of the success of this project," Sabogal said.
"The project managed to create the interest of colleagues and forest extractors alike. They considered some really valuable ideas and experiences during the process and in developing the final products we delivered. For Peru, the two manuals are the first of their type to support forest management in the Amazon region."
Sabogal said the project's achievements benefited from a study lead by CIFOR and supported by USAID inquiring into the constraints and opportunities for the adoption of good forest management practices in Amazon forests - a study that was also carried out in Bolivia and Brazil.
Chainsaw and tractor operators have acknowledged that due to a lack of training opportunities in the past, they were not very aware of sustainable forest management principles. They simply focused on raising production regardless of the environmental cost. But now planning plays an important role in their forest operations and they say they have found it easy to apply reduced impact harvesting techniques.
According to Oscar Melgarejo, a Forest Engineer working for a timber concessionaire in Ucayali, the project's manuals will greatly support the work of forest professionals and technicians as well as timber operators tin applying sustainable forest management with methods that are applicable or adaptable to the local reality.