AID grant no. 527-0780-G-00-3351-00 to the Federacion Agraria Departamental de Madre de Dios (FADEMAD) to carry out participatory land use classification and sustainable economic development in human impacted areas of Peru

The main activities will be land use classification surveying and implementation of pilot production systems. Phase I will consist of land use surveys of approximately 130,000 ha in three areas of the TCRZ. Survey methods will follow the methodology developed by CATIE in Costa Rica, though with significant differences. These differences include training of 130 local farmers for field surveying, and conducting complementary research (e.g., market research, a genetic resource survey, and anthropological studies focusing on gender issues and socioeconomic factors). The objective will be to design new land use categories suggesting production that is ecologically and economically sustainable, as well as practical given local social organization. Phase II will include the design and implementation of pilot production and marketing projects based upon the land use classification. Projects will be in the areas of integrated agricultural, agroforestry, forest management (but not timber extraction), and commercialization activities. They will be conducted using the farming systems research and extension methodology, which will involve close participation by and training of the 130 farmer participants. FADEMAD with its own resources will establish a rotating capital fund to provide farmers with funds needed for processing or marketing the products of the pilot projects. Via the project, FADEMAD will become an applied research organization in its own right, and will have been provided with a number of technical tools, including (1) geographic information systems infrastructure (which will be used by FADEMAD in cooperation with Government of Peru agencies to track land use, land tenure, and natural resource issues in the TCRZ area); (2) an integrated pest management monitoring system; (3) a computerized data base on tree and agricultural crop species, which will help farmers develop sustainable agrosilvopastoral systems on their lands; and (4) tree nurseries and seed production facilities capable of producing a variety of tree seedlings and certified seed, as well as preserving threatened natural resources.