Kichwa community Puerto Franco wins historic victory in its struggle against the exclusionary conservation of Cordillera Azul National Park and its carbon credit project (REDD+)

Puerto Franco, a Kichwa Indigenous community in the San Martin region of the Peruvian Amazon, has just won a landmark case for Indigenous peoples against exclusionary conservation in Peru. The decision of the Mixed Court of Bellavista of the Superior Court of Justice of San Martin orders the titling of their ancestral territory, over an area within the Cordillera Azul National Park (hereafter PNCAZ, its Spanish acronym) and forestry concessions. In addition, the court ordered prior consultation on the creation of the PNCAZ and that the community's right to benefit from conservation activities carried out in their territory, such as the PNCAZ's REDD+ Project, be fulfilled.

Last Friday, 13 December 2024, the Mixed Court of Bellavista, in the San Martin region, declared a lawsuit filed in 2020 by the Kichwa community of Puerto Franco and its federation, the Ethnic Council of the Kichwa Peoples of the Amazon (CEPKA), to be well-founded. The origin of the community’s legal action was the dispossession of their communal ancestral territory by the imposition of a national park and forestry concessions. The hearing of the case was held on 12 November of this year.

Although the community had already won the case in the first instance in April 2023, the case was reversed due to formal issues and requests from the defendants, a fact that raised strong international scrutiny. Now, more than a year later, the court has ruled in favour of the Kichwa people, ordering the titling of the territory of the Puerto Franco Kichwa Native Community, the nullity of forest concessions, the holding of a prior consultation on the creation of the PNCAZ and its Master Plan, and guaranteeing the community's access to natural resources and its participation in the management of the park, including the distribution of benefits from the sales of carbon credits that have taken place behind their backs since 2008.

 

"I am very happy and satisfied. Not everyone gets into a struggle like this against the state, the so-called SERNANP, CIMA and the concession. This is for the brave. Puerto Franco has been in that position, facing a lawsuit against the State. It is a joy for me to have won this case. We are excited, despite the fact that they have discriminated against us, saying that we are not Indigenous, on 12 November we demonstrated that we do speak our Kichwa language," Henry Fasabi, apu of Puerto Franco.

 

The lawsuit was filed against the Ministry of the Environment (MINAM), the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (MIDAGRI), the Regional Agrarian Directorate of the Regional Government of San Martin (GORESAM), two forestry concessions (Agrupación Maderera Alto Biavo S.A.C. and that of the owner Eisen Paredes), the National Forestry and Wildlife Service (SERFOR), the National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State (SERNANP), and the Head of the Cordillera Azul National Park (PNCAZ). In addition, the Centro de Conservación, Investigación y Manejo de Áreas Naturales (CIMA) was incorporated for its role in the management of the PNCAZ, in its capacity as Executor of the Administration Contract.

In this recent judgement, the Court declared all the claims of Puerto Franco and CEPKA to be well founded, and ordered the defendant entities to do the following:

• That the Regional Agrarian Directorate of GORESAM initiate the process of titling the integrity of the territory traditionally used and occupied by the community in property.  In addition to the non-application of articles 11 and 18 of Law 22175 and 76 of Law 29763, related to cesión en uso leasehold contracts.
• That SERFOR resize the Permanent Production Forests (BPP) that affect the claimed territory.
• That the Regional Environmental Authority of GORESAM declare the forestry concessions that affect the Kichwa territory null and void.
• That SERNANP, 1) carry out a free and informed consultation on D.S. 031-2001-AG that creates the PNCAZ and its Master Plan 2017-2021; 2) instruct the park rangers of the Park not to impede access to the natural resources of Puerto Franco and other affected Kichwa communities; 3) comply with the right of the native communities over which the PNCAZ overlaps to benefit from conservation activities in their territories, such as the Park's REDD+ project; 4) comply with the right of the native communities over which the PNCAZ overlaps to participate in the management of the PNCAZ with decision-making capacity.

 

"We are very happy, all the people are very happy. I know what we are gaining and that is why we are happy. I am very happy because we are going to grow old and my grandsons and granddaughters will enjoy our forests," Elena Salas Ishuiza, a community member from Puerto Franco.

 

This first instance ruling marks a milestone in the constitutional justice of Indigenous peoples' rights in the country. For the first time, their territorial rights, violated by the creation of protected natural areas without free, prior and informed consent, are recognised.

It is also the first court ruling in relation to the climate change mitigation mechanism for the sale and purchase of carbon credits, known as REDD+, which orders the recognition of the Kichwa people's right to the benefits generated by conservation activities, such as REDD+.

The ruling also allows for the recognition of the integral ancestral territory of the Puerto Franco community, including the property of their customary use forests, on which their subsistence depends.

Undoubtedly, this decision constitutes a judicial watershed for the territorial struggles of Indigenous peoples, pushing for a new conservation paradigm in the country, which the Kichwa communities have called for as a new social contract for the conservation of biodiversity and a direct struggle against climate change, with full respect for the rights of Indigenous peoples.

 

"As born community members of Puerto Franco we feel happy and joyful to have won this case, with so much struggle and walking that we care for the Biavo. Despite many accusations and lies, which tell us that we are usurpers, we are moving forward. It is great news to have won the case and to ask the authorities to continue recognising our efforts to take care of our ancestral forests," Osler Fasabi, a community member from Puerto Franco.

 

 

"We fought on 12 November and now with the news, it is a satisfaction for me and all those who come after us. Born and raised here, we know our forests. Others do not. If they knew neither the Pikillaku nor the Shillu Shillu and they changed their names, how are the people of the Park going to name them if they have never entered those areas? We will not be fooled. We have taken care of those forests, we have climbed those mountains, we have sung, we have laughed, we have all taken care, we have struggled, we have suffered. But what are they going to walk? What have SERNANP and Alto Biavo SAC done? We will not allow ourselves to be beaten, to be defeated, and after 72 years we remain firm. We are happy and content. We will use every last cartridge - not bullets – but with our Kichwa words to SERNANP, which is double-faced, lending its boat to the loggers in Remanso (...)", Guillermo Salas, elder from Puerto Franco.

 

 

"I feel very happy and joyful to have beaten these great men of the state, the concession-holder and the park. We are proud. We will continue to struggle. We are thinking of our children and their children and remembering our parents and grandparents and we will continue to take care of the heritage they left us. And we thank CEPKA, CODEPISAM and AIDESEP and our brothers and sisters from Chambira, from Bajo Huallaga, who are joining us and we will continue to move forward to recover our territory together. We are demonstrating that we can win!" Alpino Fasabi, community member and former apu of Puerto Franco.