Del Potencial a la Acción: OMEC y Conservación Inclusiva en Perú

The Bosque Local Señor de la Cumbre (BLSC), established in 2020 in Madre de Dios, Peru, covers 3,179.41 hectares and is critical for the water supply of Puerto Maldonado. Managed by the Municipality of Inambari, the area faces severe threats from illegal mining, agricultural expansion, and selective logging. While a Payment for Ecosystem Services (MERESE) mechanism is in place to fund conservation and sustainable production, the site lacks a formal management plan and a functional Management Committee. Local stakeholders identify ecotourism and agroforestry as sustainable economic alternatives, but emphasize the need for stronger institutional capacity, legal security, and better access to financing to sustain conservation efforts.

• The Bosque Local Señor de la Cumbre (BLSC) was established on October 14, 2020, covering 3,179.41 hectares in the Inambari district of Madre de Dios. It was created primarily to protect the headwaters of the Jayave stream and the Manuani river, which provide potable water to approximately 81,925 inhabitants of Puerto Maldonado via the 'La Pastora' intake point.
• The area is under significant environmental pressure from illegal mining, which is identified as the primary threat causing contamination and deforestation. Other pressures include the expansion of the agricultural frontier—specifically slash-and-burn practices by migrants from the Andes and monoculture papaya from San Martín and Cajamarca—and selective illegal logging of valuable timber species.
• Governance of the BLSC is currently fragmented. Although the Law of Forestry and Wildlife requires a Management Committee, one has not been formed due to the limited resources of the Municipality of Inambari. Instead, management relies on a 'Grupo Impulsor' led by the water utility EMAPAT to implement the Payment for Ecosystem Services (MERESE) mechanism.
• The MERESE hídrico mechanism has implemented a project with a budget of US$ 571,500 to improve ecosystems and strengthen capacities in the BLSC and its influence area. This includes investments in soil erosion control, water quality, and the promotion of sustainable productive activities like cacao agroforestry and chestnut collection to counter illegal mining.
• Local stakeholders perceive ecotourism and sustainable agroforestry as viable economic alternatives compatible with conservation. The 'Quebrada Señor de la Cumbre' was recognized as a tourism resource by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism in 2022, though the area lacks the necessary infrastructure and investment to fully develop this potential.
• There is a critical lack of a functional management plan for the BLSC; although one was submitted to SERFOR, it was returned with observations that remain unresolved. Additionally, there are no records of supervision or fiscalization of the area by OSINFOR since its creation.

APA

Isola, S., & Herz, K. (2025). Del Potencial a la Acción: OMEC y Conservación Inclusiva en Perú. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1825/Peru_CS_Bosque_Local_Senor_de_la_Cumbre.pdf

Chicago

Isola, Sandra, and Katia Herz. Del Potencial a la Acción: OMEC y Conservación Inclusiva en Perú. WWF International, 2025. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1825/Peru_CS_Bosque_Local_Senor_de_la_Cumbre.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Isola |first1=Sandra |last2=Herz |first2=Katia |title=Del Potencial a la Acción: OMEC y Conservación Inclusiva en Perú |publisher=WWF International |date=December 2025 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1825/Peru_CS_Bosque_Local_Senor_de_la_Cumbre.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{isola2025del, author = {Isola, Sandra and Herz, Katia}, title = {{Del Potencial a la Acción: OMEC y Conservación Inclusiva en Perú}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2025}, month = dec, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1825/Peru_CS_Bosque_Local_Senor_de_la_Cumbre.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }