Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples Statement Regarding the Affront Against Institutionality and Forest Governance

The statement condemns the Ministry of Agriculture's dismissal of Luis Alberto Gonzales-Zúñiga, the Executive Director of SERFOR, citing a lack of transparency and a breach of established procedures. The signatories argue that the removal occurred as SERFOR was improving timber traceability, which threatened stakeholders benefiting from illegal timber trade. They highlight that approximately 60% of Peruvian timber is of illegal origin and warn that this institutional crisis jeopardizes international agreements, including the Norway-Germany-Peru Agreement and the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement.

• The dismissal of SERFOR's Executive Director, Luis Alberto Gonzales-Zúñiga, is characterized as a breach of institutionality because the Ministry of Agriculture bypassed the SERFOR Board of Directors and failed to provide written reasons for the removal.
• The removal of the Executive Director is linked to resistance from public and private stakeholders who benefit from illegal timber trade, particularly as SERFOR was making progress in developing timber traceability mechanisms to verify legal origin.
• Illegal timber production is widespread in Peru, with the Financial Intelligence Unit estimating that at least 60% of produced timber is of illegal origin, often laundered via falsified documents.
• The institutional crisis in Peru's forest sector threatens the state's international commitments, specifically the Norway-Germany-Peru Agreement regarding deforestation reduction and the Free Trade Agreement with the United States.

APA

Peralta, C. A. I., Zapata, F. D. M. V., Cáceres, J. D. E., Bello, J. L. D., Méndez, L. A. H., Sánchez-Moreno, M. C., De Lama, M. L., Fernández-Davila, P., Merino, R., Vasquez, S. C., Huaman, S. S., & Uwarai, Y. A. (2020). Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples Statement Regarding the Affront Against Institutionality and Forest Governance. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/civil-society-and-indigenous-peoples-statement-regarding-the-affront-against-institutionality-and-forest-governance/

Chicago

Peralta, César A. Ipenza, Flor de María Vega Zapata, Jose De Echave Cáceres, Juan Luis Dammert Bello, Luis A. Hallazi Méndez, Mariano Castro Sánchez-Moreno, Mercedes Lu De Lama, et al. Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples Statement Regarding the Affront Against Institutionality and Forest Governance. Center for International Environmental Law, 2020. https://www.ciel.org/civil-society-and-indigenous-peoples-statement-regarding-the-affront-against-institutionality-and-forest-governance/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Peralta |first1=César A. Ipenza |last2=Zapata |first2=Flor de María Vega |last3=Cáceres |first3=Jose De Echave |last4=Bello |first4=Juan Luis Dammert |last5=Méndez |first5=Luis A. Hallazi |last6=Sánchez-Moreno |first6=Mariano Castro |last7=De Lama |first7=Mercedes Lu |last8=Fernández-Davila |first8=Patricia |last9=Merino |first9=Roger |display-authors=etal |title=Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples Statement Regarding the Affront Against Institutionality and Forest Governance |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=6 June 2020 |url=https://www.ciel.org/civil-society-and-indigenous-peoples-statement-regarding-the-affront-against-institutionality-and-forest-governance/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{peralta2020civil, author = {Peralta, César A. Ipenza and Zapata, Flor de María Vega and Cáceres, Jose De Echave and Bello, Juan Luis Dammert and Méndez, Luis A. Hallazi and Sánchez-Moreno, Mariano Castro and De Lama, Mercedes Lu and Fernández-Davila, Patricia and Merino, Roger and Vasquez, Sandro Chavez and Huaman, Silvia Sánchez and Uwarai, Yanua Atamain}, title = {{Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples Statement Regarding the Affront Against Institutionality and Forest Governance}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2020}, month = jun, url = {https://www.ciel.org/civil-society-and-indigenous-peoples-statement-regarding-the-affront-against-institutionality-and-forest-governance/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }