Mecanismo de Retribución por Servicios Ecosistémicos Hídricos en la Subcuenca del Río Cumbaza, Región San Martín

The Ministry of Environment (MINAM) has identified 17 mechanisms in different stages of development across the country. The Ley de Mecanismos de Retribución por Servicios Ecosistémicos was approved in June 2014, and there have been advances in key areas such as the governance of ecosystem services, the role of the state in RSE schemes, and economic incentives for the conservation of ecosystems. The Centro de Desarrollo e Investigación de la Selva Alta-CEDISA, a non-governmental organization, has been promoting rural development and the conservation of natural resources and the environment in the San Martín Region. In the last ten years, it has promoted agroforestry in the watersheds of the Mayo, Cumbaza, Ponaza, and Mishquiyacu rivers, and it conducted a justifying study that allowed the creation of the Cordillera Escalera Regional Conservation Area (ACR-CE), with the aim of preserving forests, biodiversity, and water sources. The ACR-CE is located in the San Martín Region, in the north of Peru, in the provinces of Lamas and San Martín, covering an area of 149,870 hectares. It is considered a strategic area for the conservation of regional biodiversity and also as a source of water for different uses by the watersheds that originate there. It is crossed by the 5th section of the Tarapoto-Yurimaguas road of the IIRSA Norte highway, and it is subject to population pressure, illegal logging, and changes in land use. The Cumbaza River watershed, which originates in the western flank, has special importance due to the growing scarcity and degradation of its water resources for different uses, a situation that worsens during the dry season. This watershed covers an approximate area of 57,120 hectares, representing 1.14% of the total extension of the San Martín Region. The hydrological network is composed of the Cumbaza River as the main axis, with its main tributaries on the left bank being the Cachiyacu, Shilcayo, Ahuashiyacu, and Pucayacu rivers, and on the right bank the Shupishiña stream. According to the Ecological-Economic Zoning of the Cumbaza River watershed, carried out by the Huallaga Central and Bajo Mayo Special Project, 85% (48,552 hectares) of the watershed has been deforested for agricultural, forestry, and livestock activities, and only 15% (8,568 hectares) corresponds to primary forests that have not been intervened, mainly located in the ACR-CE and Kechwa-Lamas Native Communities, in the headwaters of the watershed and its tributaries. With the aim of contributing to the conservation of forests and environmental goods and services, CEDISA has been implementing the "Payment for Environmental Services for the Conservation of Forests and Poverty Alleviation in the Cumbaza River Watershed, San Martín Region" project (PSAH-Cumbaza), with the purpose of developing a mechanism for retribution by ecosystem services (RSEH) for overcoming the bottlenecks for the conservation of environmental services in the Cumbaza River watershed, with the technical and financial support of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in the framework of the PMFS MAE. In the context of this project, the Cumbaza River Watershed Management Committee (CGCC) was reactivated as a space for articulation and coordination of public and private actors interested in the conservation and sustainable development of the watershed. The CGCC aims to promote the integrated and sustainable management of water and natural resources in the watershed.