Informations sur le projet/l’activité

The local native communities (NCs) currently have FSC certification for the management of their forests, which produce timber at a small scale and in less than optimal conditions to meet market requirements. The FSC market demands the same quantity and quality standards as ordinary markets, a requirement the communities cannot meet as they operate with low production capacity and low environmental impact equipment and machinery. In this context, it is necessary to assist the native communities to penetrate specific markets that pay a fair price for the timber they produce so as to improve their income levels.

The fair trade market does not demand high production volumes and pays a higher price for timber of demonstrated legal and sustainable origin. It is therefore necessary to strengthen the native communities' forest chain of custody, build their enterprise management capacities and help them establish strategic partnerships so that they can have better opportunities in the marketing of their products.

This project, to be implemented in the Department of Ucayali, located in the Peruvian Amazon Region, is aimed at enabling 07 Shipibo Conibo indigenous communities to improve their marketing of timber from legal and sustainable sources with a view to penetrating the fair trade market. To this end, the forest enterprise management capacity of community members will be improved and an innovative joint production and marketing strategy will be implemented on the basis of strategic partnerships with private companies.

Furthermore, improved CoC procedures will be established and adjusted to fair trade production standards. By the end of the project, there will be a validated community forest enterprise model that will contribute to improved forest governance in the Department of Ucayali. It should be stressed that the innovative approach of this project lies in the enterprise-community partnership to be developed as this type of alliance has so far been successful in the timber sector of Peru. In addition, this would represent the first Fair Trade Market experience in the country's forest sector.