📋 Tender Overview
The IIAP leads the recovery of the Amazon with more than 2.1 million restorative spheres that already cover 618 hectares of degraded forests and achieve germination rates of up to 63 %.The 2024 forest fires left serious impacts on the departments of Ucayali, San Martin, Loreto, Madre de Dios and Huanuco. Thousands of hectares of forest were reduced to ashes. These areas are now part of the actions prioritized by the Peruvian Amazon Research Institute (IIAP), an entity under the Ministry of Environment, to restore vegetation coverage and protect biodiversity.
In Ucayali, the IIAP manufactured 878 800 spheres with white ball seeds (Guazuma Crinita). These were distributed in 189 hectares of the Puerto Firmza native community. According to the technical team, the seedlings of this species show a visible development and consolidate the initial coverage of the soil, a key aspect to initiate ecological restoration.
The initiative was also extended to seven provinces of San Martin: Bellavista, El Dorado, Huallaga, Lamas, Picota, San Martin and Tocache, in addition to the province of Alto Amazonas, in Loreto. Together, 429 hectares were intervened and approximately 1,300,000 restorative spheres were distributed.
The areas intervened between 2024 and 2025 show encouraging advances in the recovery of fires affected by fire. The IIAP reported that the germination rate reached values between 42 % and 63 %. This means that, of the 2,500 spheres launched per hectare, between 1,000 and 1,500 managed to germinate and produce seedlings. Being the Blanca Bolaina that reached the highest percentage with 63 %. They were followed by Shaina (Glandulous Colubrin) with 56 % and the Quillosisa (Cassia Multijuga) with 55 %. Instead, Yanabara (Pollalestia Discolo) recorded the lowest value, just 42 %.
It should be noted that not all seedlings that germinate survive or maintain constant growth. The species with the greatest survival were the white ball with 48 % and Shaina with 46 %. For its part, the quillosisa reached 24 % and Yanabara 25 %. As for the height, the Quillosisa reached 1.40 m in 210 days, followed by the Blanca Bolaina, which reached 1.25 m in the same period.
These results confirm that technology works and can improve with adjustments, especially by enhancing good growth species such as the white ball and quillisis.
Based on these advances, the IIAP decided to double the number of scattered spheres, from 2,500 to 5,000 per hectare. With this, it seeks to increase the survival of the species, expand the initial vegetation coverage and allow fauna and environmental services to be restored in less time.
These advances show that restorative spheres are a viable tool to recover degraded areas for forest fires and can make a difference in the restoration of the Amazon.
