📋 Tender Overview
The Nomatsigenga indigenous people have reforested more than 8 hectares with forest species to begin paying a forest fine.Junin. - After raccooning and chewing their coca bolus as payment to the land, Ronald and Celestino begin their journey through the reforestation area of their community. Ronald measures the height of the seedlings with a winch, while Celestino uses a vernier caliper to record the diameter of the stems. At the same time, the team from the Forestry and Wildlife Resources Supervision Agency (OSINFOR) takes the location coordinates of each plant with a GPS, records photographs as evidence and carefully writes down all the data on a clipboard.
The sun begins to burn, the ups and downs of the rugged terrain make the work more demanding, but nothing deters the residents or the OSINFOR team that arrived at the native Nomatsigenga community of Mazaronquiari, in Pangoa, Junin, to supervise 1,000 seedlings as a representative sample of the 8,141 that the community members planted in an area greater than eight hectares.
Three days of work have passed under the sun, the rain and even a lightning strike near the supervised area, the OSINFOR team concludes the verification of the plantations reported by the head of the community, Simon Cherisente Mahuanca. These actions are part of the first report of the recovery plan for degraded areas presented by the community to compensate for a forestry fine amounting to S/191,802.60, over a period of five years.
The community has decided to reforest to pay off our debt. The population has supported us with macheting and planting, because we know that, in the end, this will remain for us, explains Simon, who also tells us that his people have planted camphor moena (Ocotea aciphylla), estoraque (Myroxylon balsamum), yellow moena 1 (Aniba puchury-minor), yellow moena 2 (Nectandra pearcei), tulpay (Clarisia racemosa), black walnut (Juglans neotropica), screw (Cedrelinga cateniformis) and mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King).
From infringement to commitment: a new direction for Mazaronquiari
In 2021, a sanction shook Mazaronquiari and the company Madereras Pangoa E.I.R.L., as jointly responsible. In the last OSINFOR supervision, violations of forestry and wildlife legislation were determined: 30,072 m3 of yellow walnut and cumala wood had been harvested and mobilized without declaring it to the authorities or having the corresponding forest transport guides. In addition, evidence of the change in land use and clearing of forests for agricultural activities was found in 39,972 hectares, within an area destined exclusively for the sustainable use of forest resources.
Faced with this situation, the community assumed its responsibility with clarity and commitment. We as a community are responsible. We have committed an infraction within the forestry harvesting area, because a community member has built his farm, Simon frankly admits. However, Mazaronquiari made a decision: turn the sanction into a learning opportunity. They resolved to pay the fine through reforestation actions to recover their degraded areas, with the aim of returning to legality and using their forest resources again in a sustainable manner.
We have had a communal assembly, where the population and authorities drafted an act to respect the forest exploitation area. The commitment of each one is not to make any more mistakes, to maintain the area and, if there is a plantation that is dying, we are going to reinforce it (to give it support and nutrients), the communal chief affirms with conviction.
Today more than 1,400 Nomatsigenga men and women who inhabit the territory act together to protect and recover their forest. For example, we call an assembly, we set the date and we all come to work, says the community leader. However, this process is also possible because the company hired a forestry engineer who provides technical assistance to the community on its path to compensation.
Nomatsigenga determination and organization
10 minutes from the town, the reforestation area established thanks to the leadership and work of the community forest surveillance and control committee, made up of five community members elected in an assembly and officially recognized by the Technical Forestry and Wildlife Administration of Satipo, extends. The community has appointed us to monitor the reforestation areas, says Ronald Piori Marcos, a 42-year-old man who has held various positions and is currently secretary of the community and the committee.
My motivation is the community, says Ronald, while taking a brief break from his work supporting the OSINFOR technical team. Every month we verify that the communal tasks are fulfilled: cleaning, review of coordinates and maintenance of the reforested areas. We do all this because later we are going to use the wood legally to cover the needs of the town, he said.e shyly in Spanish.
Your commitment does not go unnoticed. The population and the community leader himself recognize the effort. The surveillance committee guides us to manage the area. They are like our engineers: they explain to us how to plant and how to care for it. They have been trained by OSINFOR and SERFOR to be able to support us in all community activities, says Simon.
The final call from the loudspeaker
The fourth day of the OSINFOR visit dawns with the sound of the community radio. Minutes before eight, a voice in the Nomatsigenga language bursts into the air: it is Ronald, who calls the residents over the loudspeaker to gather at the communal house. Men and women arrive little by little; some with their orange cushma (typical clothing) and others carrying their children. Everyone listens attentively to the words of Samuel Arzapalo Huancas, OSINFOR supervisor, who shares the preliminary results of the verification of the reforestation area.
After the presentation, the communal chief takes the floor and reaffirms the commitment of his people: to take care o
