Tambopata-Bahuaja Biodiversity Reserve (REDD+)

The project integrates conservation and sustainable economic development to protect 591,119 hectares forest (an area about the size of Los Angeles). By helping local farmers transition to sustainable cacao production in the margins of the protected area, degraded land is being restored to relieve deforestation pressures and provide local communities with forest-friendly and sustainable livelihoods.

This land is exposed to an array of land-use threats, such as illegal mining, logging, ‘slash and burn’ agriculture and infrastructure development. Large numbers of mostly small-scale mining companies use highly polluting technology that contaminates the area’s rivers and the local water supply, including waste poisoned with mercury.

The Tambopata-Bahuaja project addresses the drivers of deforestation by investing in commercially viable cacao agroforestry systems and using climate finance to reward forest monitoring and stewardship. By demonstrating a scalable model of environmentally and socially sustainable land use, the project creates a productive barrier against encroaching threats to the region’s natural and human capital. The avoided deforestation as a result of the Tambopata-Bahuaja project reduces global emissions by over 4.2 million tonnes of CO2 by 2021 — approximately equivalent to 453,000 homes’ energy use for a year