The bloomtrigger project Our project in Peru

Our chosen project in Peru

Our first rainforest project is located in the Manu region, in the south east Amazon rainforest of Peru. We are supporting the work of the CREES Foundation, who has been working closely since 2003 with the local forest community to protect the rainforest on the ground.

The conservation strategy being implemented is itself a new agroforestry model designed by the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) of Oxford University. It has long been recognized that local people are the true guardians of the forest and empowering them to manage their forests sustainably is the key to long-term conservation.

Why this rainforest needs protecting…

The main drivers of deforestation in this region are due to 'slash and burn' agricultural expansion and selective logging of valuable hardwood species, with extra external pressures from oil and gas exploration as well as gold mining, with the associated road networks.

There is a clear threat of deforestation that is prevented by the presence of the CREES Foundation and the support they provide to strengthen the local community. Below is the agroforestry conservation model in 4 simple steps.

Agro-forestry conservation model

Step 1.

With the funding from bloomtrigger, the CREES Foundation provides all the technical training, equipment and materials, including seedlings, to install a complete agroforestry plot with local farmers and their families.

Step 2.

Agricultural or degraded land is reforested through the establishment of agroforestry plots - banana plantations interspersed with fast-growing softwood and slow-growing hardwood trees around the perimeter. This model has been carefully designed by the clever people at Oxford University in order to achieve higher yield and a sustainable balance for growing banana within the rainforest.

Step 3.

The local community grow and sell lots of bananas without the need to destroy more rainforest. This systems has been proven to bring additional economic, social and environmental benefits for the local area through value-added products such as organic and fairtrade bananas and certified timber.

Step 4.

The agroforestry model takes place on a relatively small scale, which helps to restore previously deforested land. However this conservation work has the effect of indirectly protecting a much larger area of rainforest, as the local community are in a strong position to protect the land from the external drivers of deforestation, such as commercial logging and mining.