proposals – Addendum

DETAILED PROJECT / PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION
GREEN CLIMATE FUND FUNDING PROPOSAL | PAGE 8 OF 101
C
clear, transparent and fact-based guidance and developing funding criteria through a consensus-building process
between donors and developed and developing nations.
Indigenous people lack access to finance, often not even being in the public registry which is a fundamental requirement
to gain funding. In addition, bio-businesses are not attractive investment opportunities for banks because of their high
risk. Due to this, private sector financing is not available. The project, however, will aim to address these barriers in order
to allow members of the indigenous community to access funding.
PROFONANPE has sought financial support to co-finance the proposed activities. Only the Government of the
Republic of Korea has agreed to support activities under Component 3 – resilience built through sustainable biobusinesses
in natural resources management areas, through a technology-enhancement grant.
C.1. Strategic Context
The project is located in the western middle portion of the Amazon Basin, in the Province of Datem del Marañón, Loreto
Region, Peru. The main feature of the project area is the presence of the alluvial cone of the Pastaza–Marañón Rivers.
This alluvial cone is home to large extensions of swamps, swamp forests, lakes and floodplains partially inundated each
year. Associated with these landforms are rich organic soils, better classified as peat. Most of the area is covered by
forest, with some areas dedicated to subsistence farming and cattle ranching.
San Lorenzo is the seat of the provincial government, with a population of 6,034 – 12 per cent of the provincial
population of 49,446 (2007 census). All other towns and villages are smaller, with populations of fewer than 2,000.
Datem del Marañón’s population is distributed in 284 population centres. Poverty affects over 75 per cent of the
population, while extreme poverty affects 42 per cent, reaching 61 per cent in Morona (the country’s third-poorest
district). It is estimated that 22,329 people speak Spanish as their main language; the remainder of the population –
over half –only speak their native language. Seven indigenous peoples live in the province: Achuar, Awajún, Chapra,
Kandozi, Quechua, Wampis and Shawi, each characterized as having its own territory, culture and language. Each of
these indigenous peoples traditionally belongs to an ethnic group. The ultimate authority of native or indigenous
communities is vested in the apu or curaca (native terms for the leader of the local indigenous communities).
It should be noted that the mestizo (mixed race) population is growing faster than that of indigenous communities, and
includes in-migration from other regions. This creates tensions over access to land and other natural resources, forests,
fisheries, mining and oil extraction.
The carbon stock
In the Amazon Basin, researchers (such as Saatchi, Baccini and Mitchard) have indicated the existence of large stocks
in the form of carbon stored in peatlands. Recent work by Draper et al. (2014) 2 on the Pastaza–Marañón Basin (PMB)
revealed the presence of extensive and deep accumulations of peat that contain around 3.14 Pg C in an area of 35,600
km 2 .
These results highlight the occurrence of different peat formations. In the PMB, peat has been found beneath
aguajales, varillal (“pole” forests) and almost entirely herbaceous ‘open’ communities. Its vegetation types and the
amount of associated below-ground carbon have the potential to guide regional land-use planning exercises to
2
Draper FC, Roucoux KH, Lawson IT, Mitchard ETA, Honorio Coronado EN, Lähteenoja O, Torres Montenegro L,
Valderrama Sandoval E, Zaráte R and Baker TR. 2014. The distribution and amount of carbon in the largest
peatland complex in Amazonia. Environmental Research Letters 9 (124017) (12pp)