TAMBOPATA NATIONAL RESERVE & BAHAUAJA-SONENE NATIONAL PARK REDD+ PROJECT
THE TAMBOPATA-BAHUAJA REDD+ PROJECT IN THE PERUVIAN AMAZON
The Tambopata-Bahuaja REDD+ project is supporting environmental
and biodiversity protection in Peru, funding social and sustainable
development by creating carbon value.
THE PRESENT
THE FUTURE
Recognised internationally as an area of incredible
biodiversity, the Tambopata National Reserve Bahuaja Sonene National Park in Peru is home to
some of the world’s most beautiful and
endangered wildlife within its 570,000 hectares.
Giant Otters and Giant Armadillos can be found
living alongside Blue Macaws and other
endangered species in need of protection.
Althelia Climate Fund is participating in a US$12
million investment programme years to enable the
protection of the Tambopata landscape by AIDER
by supporting communities around the Park to
generate income without further land clearance.
However, neither the Peruvian Government nor
AIDER, the NGO tasked with managing the
Reserve, have adequate funding to protect it from
illegal loggers and the steady erosion of forest
cover for subsistence farming.
Without additional funding generated through the
development of a REDD+ project by AIDER and
Althelia’s investment, their continued
management and protection of this valuable area
will be at an end.
This project will facilitate the recovery of 4,000
hectares of degraded land, regenerating it for
sustainable cocoa production, as well as supporting
the development of a co-operative with Ecotierra, a
Canadian-Peruvian NGO, which will enable farming
communities to access much-needed
infrastructure (warehousing, dryers, fermentation
facilities, and trucks) and assist in securing higher
prices for their cocoa by centralising the Fairtrade
certification process and co-ordinating sales to
local and international buyers.
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TAMBOPATA NATIONAL RESERVE & BAHAUAJA-SONENE NATIONAL PARK REDD+ PROJECT
THE PROJECT: Tambopata Reserve & BahauajaSonene National Park REDD+ Project Project Summary
Geography 570,000 ha of virgin natural forest in
Madre de Dios, Peru, protected by a
buffer of 4,000ha degraded lands
being restored and returned to use
Threats & Issues
Illegal gold mining, and the
encroachment of subsistence
farmers who have no alternative
means of income generation
Biodiversity
The biodiversity capital of Peru,
home to over over 50% of Peru’s
population of mammals and bird
Wildlife The natural habitat for endangered
and vulnerable species including the
giant armadillo, black caiman, harpy
eagle, giant otters, jaguars, maned
wolves and blue & green macaws
Community
The livelihoods of 1,100 farmers and
their families will be directly
improved through the project
Climate Benefit
The project will secure 570,000ha of
forest, ensuring that emissions of
4.5 million tCO2eq are avoided over
the next 7 years
Standards CCB Gold Level and VCS
The Tambopata REDD+ programme in
Madre de Dios, Peru, is designed to
finance and safeguard the long-term
conservation of 570,000 hectares of virgin
natural forest in the National Reserve of
Tambopata and Bahuaja-Sonene National
Park, home to some of the world’s most
pristine and beautiful landscapes, as well
as 12 critically endangered animal species.
designed and successfully validated under
the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and
Carbon, Community and Biodiversity
(CCB) Standards at the Gold level. The
project will result in the long-term
protection of the Tambopata National
Reserve and Bahuaja-Sonene National
Park, its wildlife and the people living
within and around the Reserve and Park.
The Tambopata and Bahuaja-Sonene
protected areas in the Peruvian Amazon are considered as the biodiversity capital
of Peru and one of the world’s most
important biodiversity hotspots, but the
areas are under continued threat of
deforestation and forest degradation from
migratory slash and burn agriculture and
illegal gold mining, which not only
destroys the landscape but pollutes
waterways and fish - a significant source
of protein for the local communities - with
deadly levels of mercury.
A total of US$12 million spread over 5
years has been committed to fund this
programme. Althelia has invested EUR5m
secured in part by Verified Emission
Reductions resulting from avoided
deforestation.
The programme is running in in
partnership with a leading Peruvian NGO,
AIDER, which has 27 years of expertise in
implementing and managing communitybased sustainable development projects,
and the Ministry of Environment’s
(MINAM) National Service for Natural
Protected Areas (SERNANP), which
supervises and manages Peru’s national
protected areas.
Althelia’s investment aligns environmental
conservation and economic development,
finances biological monitoring, scientific
research and surveillance of the core
protected area, as well as providing the
necessary financial resources to improve
the agricultural practices of more than
1,100 small farmers and their families
living in the area surrounding the
protected areas. These improvements
include the installation of up to 4,000
hectares of agro-forestry systems based
on fine and aromatic cocoa trees as well as
the establishment of a smallholder
cooperative that will enable more optimal
management of harvesting, processing
and commercialisation of cocoa.
AIDER has designed their conservation
programme in partnership with both
public and private sectors, based on local
sustainable development needs. As part of
AIDER’s mandate to achieve conservation
and sustainable economic development of
the area, a REDD+ strategy has been
At full scale, the investment will produce
at least 3,200 tonnes per annum of
certified zero-deforestation organic and
Fairtrade cocoa to empower the long-term
financial and environmental sustainability
of the area, its ecosystems and its
population.
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TAMBOPATA NATIONAL RESERVE & BAHAUAJA-SONENE NATIONAL PARK REDD+ PROJECT
COMMUNITIES
The buffer zone areas around the Reserve are home to over 50
settlements with an estimated population of 11,500 inhabitants,
most of whom are highly reliant on small scale agriculture. A great
deal of land has been degraded as farmers are forced to move
from one plot to another in order to improve yields, often
encroaching into the Reserve to cultivate new land.
The project will also promote and provide financial resources,
technical and commercial support, and technological innovation
to improve activities such as agroforestry, and also low-impact
gold mining, timber management, and brazil nut processing and
marketing, investments that will ensure communities are
maintained and their way of life continues.
These small-scale farmers cultivate staple crops (rice, corn,
beans, banana) in small- to medium-sized family plots (one to five
hectares), hunt and fish, and use non-timber forest products (e.g.,
palm fibre and fronds) to meet basic necessities. Cash comes
from the sale of cash crops such as cocoa, but most often this
needs to be sold at market in Cusco, over 9 hours by road, and
accessing the best prices for small amounts is hard.
One of the main components of the project is the recovery of
4,000 hectares of degraded land for agricultural use by these
farmers, and the provision of assistance in improving agricultural
practices on their existing plots of land. This plan is further
supported by the creation of a co-operative structure (with the
assistance of Canadian-Peruvian NGO Ecotierra) where cocoa can
be collected and sold in larger volumes so that farmers can access
better pricing.
As a direct result of the project, 1,100 small farmers will see their
livelihoods improve, without further deforesting of primary forest.
Local communities around the boundaries of the Park rely on small-scale
agriculture which encroaches on the National Park. The Tambopata
REDD+ project provides the tools and education to improve yields and
lives.
BIODIVERSITY
The Madre de Dios region, where the Tambopata National
Reserve is located, is recognised as the “biodiversity capital of
Peru”, supporting 30% of Peru’s biodiversity despite only covering
7% of its national territory, and 50% of Peru’s diversity of
mammals and birds.
It is home to some of the most inspiring and threatened species in
the world, including giant river otters and a staggering 209
species and subspecies of monkey, including howler, squirrel and
spider monkeys and several species of marmoset. There are 21
threatened and 12 critically endangered species found on the
IUCN Red List including jaguars, giant armadillos, maned wolves
and blue macaws.
The project area maintains healthy ecosystems that shelter
populations of these rare and endangered large mammals that
were extensively hunted due to the high value of their skins and
furs. The region also hosts nearly 35% of all Peru’s reptiles, and
40% of the country’s frogs, toads, salamanders and other
amphibians.
Decades of poaching for its soft pelt, peaking in the 1950s and 1960s,
considerably diminished population numbers of the giant river otter. The
species was listed as endangered in 1999 and wild population estimates
are typically below 5,000.
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TAMBOPATA NATIONAL RESERVE & BAHAUAJA-SONENE NATIONAL PARK REDD+ PROJECT
THE DIFFERENCE WE MAKE
Althelia is providing critically important finance to the Tambopata
REDD+ Project, designed to reduce the pressure from
deforestation through a combination of activities including
conservation monitoring of both flora and fauna, and border
patrols inside the Park to combat illegal logging.
Our robust ESG monitoring and measurement standards are
designed to clearly show a project’s progress towards goals, such
as:
CLIMATE
Avoidance of over 4.5 million tonnes of GHG emissions over
the next 6 years
SPECIES
Long-term protection of more than 570,000 hectares of pristine
forest in the Biodiversity Capital of Peru, home to endangered giant
otter & jaguar
ECOSYSTEMS
Homes in the Buffer zones around the Tambopata National Reserve Bahuaja Sonene National Park
Protection of critical ecosystem services for local
communities, including soil, water and over 1,200 different plant
species used by local communities
LIVELIHOODS
Sustainable Long Term Income Generation for families in
buffer zones around the park, increasing yields and income from
certified zero-deforestation organic and Fairtrade cocoa, to prevent
them having to exploit forested lands for subsistence farming
INCLUSIVITY
Participative planning recognising the critical involvement of
neighbouring communities in all stages of development of
conservation plans implementation for the Reserve
SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE
Contribution to the material welfare of more than 1,100 local
families through establishing new agroforestry plots on degraded
land, improved education, and a greater diversity of economic
activities to support long term, sustainable social development
CLIMATE
FAIR
ECONOMIC
RETURNS
SPECIES
SUSTAINABLE
ENTERPRISE
ECOSYSTEMS
INCLUSIVITY
LIVELIHOODS
FAIR ECONOMIC RETURN
Improved agricultural practices will produce sustainable cocoa
of a high quality, and infrastructure is being developed within a new
co-op structure to allow better access to markets and higher
prices, ensuring economic benefits are real, life enhancing and for
the long term
ALTHELIA ESG “STAR”
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TAMBOPATA NATIONAL RESERVE & BAHAUAJA-SONENE NATIONAL PARK REDD+ PROJECT
ALTHELIA – WHO WE ARE
WHAT WE DO
Althelia Climate Fund is an international impact investment
fund that provides strategic finance to projects that are
preventing and reducing worldwide deforestation, conserving
biodiversity-rich primary forest and delivering sustainable
and dignified livelihoods to some of the world’s poorest
communities.
Althelia’s investments are designed to protect high-biodiversity
landscapes against deforestation for current and future
generations. To this end, it provides funding and assistance to
improve crop yields, health, education, and income generation
opportunities, and to empower communities to provide a better
future for themselves and their children.
Althelia is backed by public institutional investors such as
FMO, FinnFund and the European Investment Bank, and
private investors such as AXA and Credit Suisse. Its aim is to
keep existing forests standing whilst giving farmers,
communities and stakeholders a way to keep their
environment in tact and generate income sustainably now
and in future years.
In order to provide these investments, Althelia assists in the
marketing and monetisation of Emission Reductions as well as
sustainable high-value, Fairtrade agricultural products such as
vanilla, coffee and cocoa, in order to enable the project to repay
the investment over time.
Althelia is not an intermediary or buyer of carbon credits. It
lends to partners developing REDD+ projects against future
income streams, and assists partners in monetising assets
generated by the projects.
Althelia’s investments are built with longevity at their core and
it’s approach is to forge long-term relationships with partners to
develop sustainable commodities and land use practices.
MEASURING OUR IMPACT
In order to ensure the projects we invest are delivering against
their goals in sustainability, biodiversity and climate benefits,
Althelia has clear and detailed monitoring and measuring
protocols built into its projects.
Each year, the Tambopata REDD+ project will be monitored
against targets on wildlife conservation, species protection,
community development and income generation, combatting
illegal logging, and many other Key Performance Indicators
(KPIs), and progress will be published annually.
In order to pay for these activities to be implemented,
independent auditors to the REDD+ project will also quantify the
amount of CO2eq avoided from release to the atmosphere, which
can then be sold as Emission Reductions (ERs).
Giant armadillos are the largest living species of armadillo. Once found
widely throughout the tropical forests of South America they are now
considered vulnerable to extinction. Armadillos are amongst the oldest
groups of mammals on our planet.
Whilst being a marker of the climate benefits of the project, ERs are also indicators of the ongoing success of the project in its
entirety, including social and community development. Without
activities designed to address the drivers of deforestation which
means developing and enhancing livelihoods, the REDD+ project
would not meet its own goals under the monitoring and
measuring protocols, and so would not be able to claim ERs. Our
partners can be sure that, when committing to buy ERs from the
Tambopata REDD+ project, they are committing to support
biodiversity, wildlife and ecosystem preservation, and the social
and economic development of stakeholders in the area around the
Park, as well as the protection of our climate and our endangered
species.
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Christian del Valle
Sylvain Goupille
Managing Partner
Managing Partner
+44 20 7229 9551
[email protected]
+44 20 7229 9551
[email protected]
Ecosphere Capital Partners LLP
115 Baker Street
London W1U 6RT
Ecosphere Capital Partners LLP
115 Baker Street
London W1U 6RT
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