Populism and nationalism in politics are two sides of the same coin.

By: Enrique Ortiz, Amazon Conservation Board Member. (Original article published in El Comercio. See here.)

The Escazú Agreement, a regional agreement on access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters in Latin America and the Caribbean whose ratification is soon to be debated in Congress, has generated an intense reaction and discussion. There is a sector that affirms that this agreement would attempt against our sovereignty in the Amazon. Considering that if this agreement is ratified, the important decisions for the economic development of the country would remain in the hands of international spheres. On the other hand, others consider that such an agreement leads to improved information flow and citizen participation. Both are necessary for the development of the country, particularly in Peru where social and environmental conflicts have paralyzed many important works for the economy. Understanding the scope of the agreement and its true implications is crucial for the future of Peru.

The Escazú Agreement stipulates that the signatory countries undertake to comply with a series of mechanisms for transparency of information, consultation, decision making processes, protection of environmental defenders and conflict resolution related to projects that may affect the environment.

How can the Escazú Agreement threaten national sovereignty, and in particular, with our Amazon? To begin with, this is a Latin American regional agreement, which has been signed by 22 democratic nations (including those Amazonian), and so far, has been ratified by 9 of them. The agreement clearly states that decisions are the affairs of each country, within their own regulatory frameworks.  It also stipulates that in cases where the conflict is between States, these – and only under a bilateral agreement – can be submitted to arbitration by the International Court of The Hague, as an international instance. That court does not have jurisdiction for internal affairs of a country, such as those between private, communities and the State. The resolution of controversies within a country is another matter, and only after exhausting the national justice mechanisms, they can be resolved by resorting to international bodies, which have nothing to do with the Escazú agreement.

There is a fear that said agreement will hinder important development projects for the country, or for a specific interest group. And it is argued that this is particularly important in times when we urgently need an economic revival. And it is true, we need development plans, but those that are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. Otherwise, we will have more Tía Marías, Congas and other extractive projects stranded in the midst of conflicts with no solution in sight. What is expected, instead, is that the Escazú Agreement has the key to resolve these situations throughout the country, on the coast, the Andes and the Amazon.

Peru has played a very important role in the gestation of this agreement since the Rio+20 United Nations conference in 2012. Our chancellery -for three governments- has promoted the vision and structure of this agreement, as expressed in the Lima Declaration. Furthermore, Peru held the vice-presidency of the negotiating executive committee’s and signed the agreement in September 2018, at the United Nations headquarters. In August 2019, President Martín Vizcarra and his chancellor sent the draft legislative resolution to the then President of Congress, for approval. How can it be that, suddenly, the referred agreement is branded by some as a surrogate that cedes 53% of the country to foreign environmental NGOs, and as a national newspaper denounces on the front page, “do they want to rob us of the Amazon”? Very strange.

Populism and nationalism in politics are two sides of the same coin. Painful examples of this are part of our recent history, and today we are seeing it in Brazil. We want development projects that can advance, that are profitable and that have mechanisms for participation, defense of citizens’ rights, and with a long-term vision, as recommended by the OCDE studies, to which our country wants to access. Vision is a keyword for the bicentennial. Let us keep our eyes open to the opportunities that this agreement can give us.

The past few months we’ve featured “Camera Trap Tuesday” on our social media pages, posting glimpses of Amazon animals living their daily lives, freely interacting with each other and their environment when there’s no human presence. But what is the real impact of camera traps? Our camera traps and wildlife conservation expert Nelly Guerra talks about this important initiative; and what it’s like working on our camera trap program in Bolivia with our sister organization Conservación Amazónica – ACEAA. She also recently presented a webinar on the camera trap program in Bolivia, which you can view here.

Benefits of Camera Trap Technology

To begin, Nelly notes that placing camera traps in the forests is the most effective way to record wild species. Images and videos of medium and large-sized mammals commonly elusive to the human eye are recorded in their natural habitats throughout the day and night. Cameras are able to stay out in the field for much longer than a person, be less disruptive, and observe more hours of authentic animal activity. The camera traps are a useful tool to obtain accurate information on the distribution of many species, their abundance, activity patterns, and habitat use. Camera trap management is a key technology that we use to understand the state of biodiversity in an area, which allows us to evaluate key regions to protect and adjust our conservation efforts.

A Snapshot of Our Current Implementation

Our camera trap program has been implemented in our areas of work in Bolivia since 2015. We have camera traps placed in:

1. TCO Tacana II, an indigenous territory we’ve worked with for decades in the North of the Department of La Paz,
2. Santa Rosa del Abuná Integral Model Area, a conservation area we helped create in the department of Pando,
3. Manuripi National Wildlife Reserve National Protected Area, an area for conservation we’ve been supporting also in the Department of Pando.

These places have successfully managed to register a wide variety of wild species, several of which had previously been declared as no longer living in the area.

We have recorded many animals in the area that have been categorized as endangered, near-threatened, or vulnerable by the internationally-recognized IUCN Red List of threatened species. This includes the endangered giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), near-threatened jaguar (Pantera onca), bush dog (Speothos venaticus), and harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), as well as the vulnerable white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) and South American tapir (Tapirus terrestris).

Successes of Camera Traps

One highlight of this project has been getting to know an incomparable variety of wildlife. Camera traps have given us data that helps us understand which forests are healthy, because the healthy ones host a great amount of biodiversity.

Another very important accomplishment of working with the camera traps is they have encouraged the inclusion and interest of Indigenous peoples and communities in working with this technology. They provide a way for these communities to monitor the wildlife that exists in their forests and evaluate their conservation status, while at the same time committing to conserving and caring for the Amazon’s wild fauna. For Nelly, “The greatest achievement has been an interest in documenting wildlife through videos and photographs, as well as the interest to develop new camera trap techniques without altering the natural habitat of the species that hide inside our forests.” Getting communities up and close to the animals with whom they share their forest home helps them become more active in their conservation.

Zooming in on the Future

To wrap up, we ask Nelly what she wants others to know about this technology. She replies that, “Working with camera traps is a methodology of gaining conservation information. They are a very useful tool to measure indicators of abundance and distribution of wildlife populations, and obtain data economically without disturbing the natural habitat of wild species. They allow us to analyze the state of conservation of the forests, because the more fauna records collected with the camera traps, the healthier our forests are. Conversely, if you have fewer fauna records that means that our forests are being disturbed by humans and that it makes the fauna migrate to other less disturbed places.”

If all goes well after the pandemic that we are experiencing, Nelly hopes that this beneficial forest monitoring program can be expanded, and more camera traps could be installed in other key areas. She finishes with a message for young conservationists saying, “I would like to encourage students to work and do wildlife research with camera traps, and learn to perform research on the state of our biodiversity in our Amazon forests.”

Rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora) is a unique type of tropical hardwood, noted for the dark red color that stains its inner trunk and a sweet smell that gets processed into Rosewood essential oil, which is a major ingredient of high quality perfumes and cosmetic products. The oil is obtained from tree trunks through steam distillation from chipped wood and bark, methods that require the destruction of the tree. Because of this economic value, rosewood trees have been cut in such large proportions in the Amazon that natural populations are significantly depleted. It is internationally recognized by the IUCN Red List as an endangered plant species. Thus, with support from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Amazon Conservation began a project to recover a population of rosewood and explore the use of this species for reforestation and restoration of degraded forests damaged by slash-and-burn agriculture and artisanal, illegal gold mining. 

The lowland Amazonian forests at our Los Amigos Conservation Hub in Peru offer the perfect conditions for re-establishing rosewood trees. The areas at Los Amigos selected for planting had previously been disturbed by slash-and-burn agriculture and artisanal gold mining, but surrounded by primary forest. The project demonstrates that rosewood is a species that can be used in projects to restore degraded lands, which can be applied to thousands of hectares of degraded lands across the region impacted by extractive activities. Moreover, the trees planted in this project can serve as a seed bank for others who may wish to reforest and conduct ecological restoration that includes rosewood, either for strict conservation or for managed, nondestructive leaf harvest, which could generate additional income for local communities.

Getting Started: A Quest to Find Rosewood Seedlings

We planned to purchase rosewood seedlings from a local provider in the region of Madre de Dios, Peru, but this proved to be a challenge due to the scarcity of rosewood seeds. After contacting a number of providers throughout Peru, we obtained 2,500 seedlings from our friends at the nonprofit Camino Verde, located in northern Peru. 

The long trip from northern Peru took its toll on the seedlings. Upon arrival to Los Amigos, the project’s agroforestry technician placed and cared for them in the nursery, where he closely monitored their development and nursed them back to health. After a couple of weeks of care, the seedlings were ready to be transplanted to the degraded areas identified for restoration! 

Plant TLC: Adding Soil-Enriching Biochar to Help Seedlings Survival 

To increase the chance of the seedlings’ survival once transplanted to the affected areas – since much of the soil was dry and damaged – we added biochar when planting them.

Biochar is a soil-enhancing charcoal made from sustainable sources that helps retain water and nutrients in the soil for plants to take up as they grow. Biochar has also been known to clean mercury contamination from the soil, which would also improve the soils previously contaminated activities.

A total of two tons of biochar were acquired from the nonprofit consortium CINCIA (Centro de Innovación Científica Amazónica), half of which were kindly donated. 

Preparing the Restoration area

Preparation of the restoration area was originally planned for March and April of this year, but the delay of the rainy season last year allowed us to get a head-start in prepping the area for the seedlings in mid-September 2019 (which was great timing, as our original timeline would have been affected by the COVID-19 global pandemic).

Our agroforestry experts prepared the land through clearing weeds and shrubs from the area. The standing Guayaba trees (Psidium guajava) already present in the forest were left, serving as a complementary tree species to the rosewood seedlings, providing shade and protecting them from intense sun and rain.

Giving the seedlings a new home

From October-December 2019, our agroforestry technicians planted the rosewood seedlings mixed with biochar. The first 1,250 seedlings were transplanted to a target area of 2.1 hectares (5.2 acres), which had been verified as an ideal area for restoration through reforestation using this species. A tractor and a short boat trip down the river helped bring the seedlings to their new home, where they were planted throughout the end of 2019.

The remaining 1,250 unplanted rosewood seedlings continued to grow in the nursery through the rainy season, along with other local seedlings to support a healthy forest ecosystem and the steady growth of rosewood, including 500 moriche palms (Mauritia flexuosa or “aguajes” in Spanish), 150 bolaina blancas (Guazuma crinita) and 650 Amazon grapes (Pourouma cecropiifolia) seedlings. By April 2020 the rainy season had ended, and our team had just finished planting the remaining trees. As of April, a total of 5,000 trees have been planted: 2,500 rosewood seedlings and 2,500 complementary tree species. We look forward to studying how this reforestation effort improves degraded forest, and based on the survival rate of the seedlings, whether it can be expanded to other areas of the Amazon disturbed by slash-and-burn agriculture and illegal gold mining.

We thank the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for their generous contribution to carry out this important project, which will support the planting of almost 5,000 essential trees to restore damaged lands in the Amazon.  

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