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Fieldwork photo of a reforestation plantation in Peru

Infographic on ‘reforestation plantations’ approach

Infographic on ‘forest restoration’ approach

What is a ‘forest’ and what comes to mind when you think of ‘reforestation’? A recent report from the Sussex Sustainability Research Programme (SSRP) explores these questions through an analysis of reforestation projects in the region of San Martín in Peru.

Titled ‘Reforestation and Restoration: Current approaches in San Martín, opportunities for reframing the debate and advice for greater biodiversity in restoration approaches’, the report was written by Dr Will Lock (School of Global Studies) and Dr Evan Killick (School of Global Studies) with support from Fiorella Paredes Cauna (Institute of Development Studies). It details how reforestation projects in Peru currently tend towards monocultures of fast-growth species for timber harvesting. These plantations, while often marketed to carbon offset buyers as restoration, provide limited biodiversity benefits, restrict local development pathways and present a greater ecological risk to pests, diseases and wildfire.

The report builds on an ongoing collaboration between the SSRP and Peruvian conservation organisation The Center for Conservation, Research and Management of Natural Areas (CIMA, El Centro de Conservación, Investigación y Manejo de Areas Naturales) and argues that more support and funding is needed for developing forest restoration with a focus on biodiversity alongside diverse agricultural production systems. This suggests a reframing of reforestation, away from monoculture plantations and mass tree-planting and towards biodiverse forests and ecological restoration. The report offers recommendations for practitioners and policymakers, chiefly within Peru, on how to promote scalable and participatory approaches to the restoration of natural forests as an alternative mechanism of participatory forest management and avenue of carbon funding.

The full report, which will be used for ongoing outreach by the SSRP and CIMA to influence reforestation practice in Peru, can be downloaded in Spanish and English below:

• Reforestación y Restauración: Enfoques actuales en San Martín, oportunidades para replantear el debate y recomendaciones para promover una mayor biodiversidad desde los enfoques de restauración
  
  
• Reforestation and Restoration: Current approaches in San Martín, opportunities for reframing the debate and advice for greater biodiversity in restoration approaches
  
  

This project was funded by the Sussex Sustainability Research Programme (SSRP). Further information about the project and research findings can be found on the SSRP website.

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