Support programme for the development of Amazon territories - TerrAmaz

The TerrAmaz project accompanies Amazon territories in the implementation of policies to reduce deforestation. The goal is to encourage the transition to a development model that combines social development, low-carbon economic development and biodiversity conservation.
For the efficient organisation of landscapes, areas that are unsuitable for farming are abandoned and forest cover gradually returns. Forest corridors can thus reconnect with the forest matrix © R. Poccard-Chapuis, CIRAD

For the efficient organisation of landscapes, areas that are unsuitable for farming are abandoned and forest cover gradually returns. Forest corridors can thus reconnect with the forest matrix © R. Poccard-Chapuis, CIRAD

Issues

The TerrAmaz project is in line with France’s commitment to an international alliance for the conservation of tropical forests. Faced with the persistence of deforestation and forest degradation in the Amazon, some territories are developing innovative solutions for local stakeholder coordination and commitments, to reconcile a sustainable agricultural transition, the conservation and restoration of forest resources, and social inclusion. These initiatives are opening up new possibilities for the region. They need recognition, support and specific research linked to development actions.

Description

The project is implemented in five pilot territories: Paragominas and Cotriguaçu in Brazil, Guaviare in Colombia, the Yasuni National Park buffer zone in Ecuador, and Madre de Dios in Peru. These territories were selected according to the following criteria:

  • The representation of the diversity of Amazon issues;
  • The capacity to produce changes, thanks to innovative instruments such as territorial certification;
  • A multilevel articulation, with the upper echelons of governance and rural socio-technical networks, enabling a change of scale.

TerrAmaz is structured around three components:

  • The development of tools and a territorial engineering methodology to improve territorial planning and management.
  • Support and assistance for the implementation of collaborative planning approaches with local farms, communities and institutions.
  • Scientific knowledge production and capitalisation on three decisive themes for the transition of the territories towards deforestation-free sustainable development: governance and public policy instruments, relevant and transparent indicators, and the production of technical and economic references on sustainable agricultural, livestock and forestry systems.

Expected impacts

  • The production of ecosystem services, and forest conservation and restoration will increase in the Amazon.
  • The Amazon territories will engage in certification processes that will consolidate their sustainable development pathways.
  • Amazon farmers will adopt low-carbon agricultural intensification practices that are compatible with the conservation and restoration of ecosystems.

Partners

Contract: AVSF, ONFI (and its two subsidiaries, ONFA (Colombia) and ONFB (Brazil)
Non-contract: Caritas Peru, ICV, Pontifica Universidad Javeriana, local government, unions and producers’ associations in the pilot territories, IMAFLORA, EMBRAPA, UFRA, IDH, IMAZON