Strengthening Local Governance of Secondary Forest in Peru

Robin R. Sears, Manuel R. Guariguata, Peter Cronkleton and Cristina Miranda Beas
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Robin R. Sears: Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Av. La Molina 1895, Lima 15024, Peru
Manuel R. Guariguata: Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Av. La Molina 1895, Lima 15024, Peru
Peter Cronkleton: Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Av. La Molina 1895, Lima 15024, Peru
Cristina Miranda Beas: Institute of Nature, Earth and Energy, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Av. Universitaria 1801, Lima 15024, Peru

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-16

Abstract: Natural forest regrowth is critical for restoring ecosystem services in degraded landscapes and providing forest resources. Those who control tenure and access rights to these secondary forest areas determine who benefits from economically charged off-farm opportunities such as finance for forest restoration, selling carbon credits, and receiving payment for ecosystem services. We explore multiple dimensions of secondary forest governance in Peru, where the lack of official government statistics of the extent, geography, and ownership, coupled with low state capacity, prevents the development of governance structures that could stimulate their sustainable management. In this paper, we review the challenges to secondary forest governance, and the opportunities to strengthen it, focusing on beneficial outcomes for smallholder farmers. We characterize secondary forest types, extent, and persistence in Peru, followed by a presentation of the social dimensions of their governance. We identify four entry points for government to take action: national mapping of the socio-geography of second growth forest, regularize the property rights of untitled landholders, relax forest regulations, and provide incentives, not sanctions, for secondary forest management. Overall, we recommend folding secondary forest governance into a landscape approach. In Peru, strengthening local forest governance could help to drive benefits of climate change mitigation incentives directly to local forest stewards.

Keywords: smallholder forestry; forest ecosystem services; natural forest regrowth; forest restoration; forest governance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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