TUI Forest Peru
Peru is one of five South American countries which share the Amazon, and 40% of its territory is covered by forest.
Forests help to protect the population from droughts and floods. They also play a key role in providing major metropolitan areas with freshwater, by capturing rainwater and recharging underground aquifers. But climate change and deforestation are making life for these beautiful habitats progressively more difficult.
TUI Forest Peru restores and protects native forests in the Vilcanota area of the Andes mountains and the Nor Yauyos-Cochas Landscape Reserve, by growing and planting native trees, addressing deforestation, supporting local livelihoods and building local leadership capacity. Over 1.9 million native trees will be planted and grown locally to protect 15,000 hectares of existing high Andean forests. The signage and infrastructure of the 40km Vilcanota Trek ecotourism experience will also be maintained, and 10,000 local people will be actively involved in restoration and conservation activities.
High Andean forests, particularly Polylepis, capture water from glacial run-off as well as mist rising from the cloud forests below. They slowly release the water to build permanent streams and wetlands, as well as carbon-rich soil and ecosystems. They also serve as natural water reservoirs which provide water to local communities and cities. Areas without forests are increasingly experiencing disastrous cycles of drought and flood.
This impact is linked to migration out of communities and into urban centres, which inevitably puts more pressure on natural resources. High Andean Forest restoration therefore helps to increase water security, provides new incomes, boosts community health, and counteracts cultural loss.
TUI Forest Peru grows and plants 1.9 million native trees in two different locations, one in the Vilcanota area in the heart of the famous Sacred Valley, and the second in the developing destination of Nor Yauyos Cochas, in the central part of the country. This includes building and maintaining 26 community-run nurseries and training nursery technicians, leading to the restoration of approximately 1.220 hectares. The 26 nurseries officially have one full-time nursery technician each, but they are communally managed in line with the social organisation of these high Andean communities, where many people take turns taking care of the growing saplings. Training on seedling propagation is carried out throughout the year by ECOAN.
TUI Forest Peru also protects 15,000 hectares of existing forest by helping to establish and maintain Private Conservation Areas (PCAs). alongside over 20 local communities, including the titling of ancestral land. This will help to preserve almost 30 IUCN-listed species. as well as preventing soil degradation from glacier runoff. Protected Conservation Areas (PCAs) in Peru are recognised by the government and are evaluated and renewed every two years. Communities cannot apply to establish these areas unless they have a legal entitlement to the lands. In Vilcanota, approximately 8,600 hectares are already under protection through PCAs, and over the next three years, several of these will require renewal, and at least one new area will be established. Meanwhile, in Nor Yauyos-Cochas, a PCA covering 5,000 hectares will be established during the project period.
Administration of protected areas also involves forest fire prevention and management. In Vilcanota, three forest-fires operation centres are being maintained, which involves providing equipment, training local community members and delivering general educational workshops on preventing and managing forest fires.
TUI Forest Peru maintains 40 km of nature trails, providing them with informative signage and building infrastructure on the Vilanota Trek. This ecotourism experience covers nine government-recognised conservation areas managed by 14 communities, as well as ongoing standing forest protection sites and reforestation activities. This infrastructural investment positively impacts approximately 10,800 community members who use the trails themselves to travel and earn from the income of camping sites. Used by over 5,000 tourists each year, the Vilcanota Trek is the main tourist trek through the Sacred Valley of the Incas after the Inca Trail leading to Macchu Picchu. Also included in this work with the community are signed agreements regarding the management of the Vilcanota Trek and protected areas in general, the provision of clean cookstoves, and environmental education workshops.
In No Yauyos, the project supports the construction of facilities such as ecological bathrooms, information centres and trails to welcome 50,000 visitors and cement the area as an up-and-coming tourism destination.
Overall, TUI Forest Peru actively involves over 10,000 people in restoration and conservation activities, including seed and cutting, collection, plant propagation, reforestation campaigns, maintenance and construction of ecotourism facilities, boosting local livelihoods.
TUI Forest Peru
Project Partners
Global Forest Generation
Global Forest Generation’s (GFG) mission is to restore forest ecosystems – at the scale needed to reverse the climate and biodiversity crisis. It does so by developing large-scale, multi-country restoration initiatives across critical ecosystems and catalyse the tools, resources, partnerships and capacities needed for local leaders to succeed in the long term.
Asociación Ecosistemas Andinas (ECOAN) is a non-governmental non-profit organisation dedicated to the preservation of endangered species of forests of Queuña in the mountains of Cusco, working hand in hand with the local communities.
ECOAN
Die gemeinnützige Nichtregierungsorganisation Asociación Ecosistemas Andinas (ECOAN) engagiert sich für die Erhaltung der gefährdeten Arten der Queuña-Wälder in den Bergen von Cusco. Dabei arbeitet sie eng mit der lokalen Bevölkerung zusammen
