Rainforest Protection in Peru

With the FLSK Future Fund, we provide financial support to projects that move us and make a meaningful contribution to a better world. New to our portfolio since fall 2024: the crucial rainforest conservation in the Amazon region. There, the organization ACELPA is successfully fighting against land grabbing by unscrupulous corporations.

Our donations have already helped secure endangered areas and develop a model and training farm for the local population. Thank you for your loyalty in helping us and the GLS Zukunftsstiftung Entwicklung make a difference for people and nature in Peru.

Threatened by economic interests: The Amazon rainforest

A multinational corporation is illegally appropriating large tracts of land and clearing the forest there to create agricultural land for its own production. Sounds unbelievable? That's exactly what's happening in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest.

Square kilometer after square kilometer of unique flora and fauna are being bulldozed and thus irretrievably destroyed. Cocoa plant monocultures replace tropical vegetation and biodiversity. This is made possible by corruption and a state that is unable to adequately enforce environmental protection.

Nature reserve and livelihood in one

ACELPA is putting a stop to this by strategically purchasing land adjacent to areas already converted into cocoa plantations. These areas are demarcated by barriers and stakes and protected by patrolling staff. In this way, the team is preventing further rainforest deforestation through physical barriers. We are thrilled by this simple yet ingenious solution!

In 2024, the organization successfully completed an inventory of flora and fauna on 250 hectares. The experts brought back a list of animals and plants that the rainforest conservation organization ACELPA can use to establish a nature conservation commons in the Peruvian Amazon region of Loreto. They documented in black and white numerous species that are so globally rare that they are listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The giant armadillo, the tapir, and the white-bearded peccary all live in the area owned by ACELPA. Other mammals such as the ocelot and the South American river otter, 24 amphibian and 14 reptile species, and CITES-listed plant species demonstrate the valuable nature of this habitat in the hinterland of the town of Tamshiyacu. This research expedition thus provides the perfect basis for ACELPA to register the studied area as a nature reserve with the responsible national authority. This is the only way to ensure long-term protection of the rainforest, which has already been extensively destroyed by exploitation.

On this basis, a 1,460-hectare private nature reserve will be gradually established. This is a great achievement that not only benefits nature but also helps the local people. Previously, they cultivated smaller fields, but had to move on after a few years because the soil became infertile. ACELPA has established a model farm in the nature reserve, which

• applies and teaches the principles of biodynamic agriculture and permaculture,

• Produces and markets food such as vegetables, fish and honey for the community and

• offers activities that strengthen the cohesion and education of the local people.

Managed in this way, even the rainforest's thin layer of humus retains its fertility. And local people learn how to live off and with the land without harming nature. These are important prerequisites for preserving the rainforest in Peru.

In 2025, we will continue to support this valuable project with our partner GLS Zukunftsstiftung Entwicklung and will report on new developments here.

Learn more about the FLSK Future Fund and the projects we support.

Image sources: GLS Future Foundation Development