Certification and Development of Forest Enterprises in the Peruvian Amazon: A Civil Society – Public – Private Alliance

The project, which began in October 2008 and is set to conclude in September 2011, focuses on providing technical assistance to private forest enterprises, indigenous communities, and local forest industries to achieve forest management certification and chains of custody certification. The project has made significant progress in achieving its objectives. In the third quarter of the second year, the project provided technical assistance to several companies, including AESA, Maderyja, and Green Gold Forestry, to solve pending certification requirements. As a result, five companies maintained their certification, representing a total of 406,914 hectares of Amazon forest under responsible management. The project also assisted the company FECOMAZAN in working with Green Gold Forestry as partners to achieve forest certification. In addition to certification, the project has also made progress in promoting markets and added value for certified products. The company Green Gold Forestry has established a market link with ECCOWOODS in Spain through the GFTN Peru. The project has also provided technical assistance to several companies to improve the efficiency and productivity of their operations and to increase the value of their certified timber products. The project has also contributed to the development of a favorable institutional climate for the promotion of forest certification and chains of custody. The Regional Government of Madre de Dios has completed the process of transferring functions and has assumed the competencies of the administration and regulation of natural resources in the region. The project's budget for the period from October 2009 to June 2010 was $479,964, with $219,776 spent and $260,188 remaining. The project's activities are on track, with the exception of governance and institutional strengthening, which has exceeded its budget by 163%. The project's key objectives are to increase the certified forest area and consolidate the certification process in the Peruvian Amazon, to ensure the economic sustainability of certification of private and indigenous community forest enterprises, and to contribute to the development of a favorable institutional climate for the promotion of forest certification and chains of custody. In terms of site progress, the project has made significant progress in achieving its objectives. The company PAUJIL has completed the elaboration of its forest management plan and annual operating plan, while the company AMATEC has also completed the presentation of its documents to authorities. The company Green Gold Forestry has also completed the presentation of its documents to authorities and has begun the implementation of a silvicultural plan. The project has also made progress in maintaining forest management certification. Five companies have maintained their FSC certification, representing a total of 426,272 hectares of forest. The project has also provided technical support to several companies to solve certification requirements, including AESA, which received the support required to solve its certification requirements. Overall, the project has made significant progress in achieving its objectives and has contributed to the development of a favorable institutional climate for the promotion of forest certification and chains of custody in the Peruvian Amazon.