CORDILLERA AZUL NATIONAL PARK REDD+ PROJECT

 
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CORDILLERA AZUL NATIONAL PARK REDD+ PROJECT
CORDILLERA AZUL NATIONAL PARK
   REDD+ PROJECT
   The Cordillera Azul National Park REDD+ project aims to preserve a vast
   and unique ecosystem of montane rainforest in the intersection of the
   stunning Peruvian Andes mountains chain and the Amazon Basin.

Supported by:

                                                                             althelia.com
CORDILLERA AZUL NATIONAL PARK REDD+ PROJECT
CORDILLERA AZUL NATIONAL PARK REDD+ PROJECT

ALTHELIA –
WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO
Althelia Climate Fund is an international       generation, and empower communities to
impact investment fund that provides            provide a better future for themselves and
strategic financing to projects that are        their children.
preventing and reducing worldwide
deforestation, conserving biodiversity-rich     Althelia is an investment fund rather than
primary forest and delivering sustainable and   an intermediary or buyer of credits. It works
dignified livelihoods to some of the world’s    only in close collaboration with local partners
poorest communities.                            on projects it believes will meet its high
                                                standards. Althelia’s investments are built
Althelia is backed by public institutional      with longevity at their core and its approach
investors such as FMO, FinnFund and             is to forge long-term relationships with
European Investment Bank, and private           partners that enable the development of
investors such as AXA. Its aim – alongside      projects and facilitate a path to market for
local project partners – is to keep existing    sustainable commodities.
forests standing whilst giving farmers,
communities and stakeholders a way to
keep their environment in tact. Althelia’s
investments provide assistance in improving
crop yields, health, education, and income

MEASURING OUR IMPACT
As an impact investment fund backed by          The projects Althelia invests in - including
strong partners, Althelia is committed to       Cordillera Azul - achieve permanent emission
ensure every dollar it invests has maximum      reductions by providing a way to fight
impact and output for all stakeholders.         deforestation and the immediate threat
Projects that pass the rigorous due diligence   of climate change. Its strength lies in its
process are executed according to its unique    determination to not just generate, but to
“Environmental, Social and Governance Policy    quantify and measure the co-benefits of the
and Impact Framework” resulting in multiple     projects that are so valuable to Althelia, its
environmental, social and economic benefits     investors and its partners.
that are quantifiable and measurable.

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CORDILLERA AZUL NATIONAL PARK REDD+ PROJECT

IN PRACTICE: Cordillera Azul National Park
REDD+ Project, Peruvian Amazon
Through an innovative Public-Private              This project provides protection of critical
Partnership between the Peruvian State, a         ecosystem services for local communities
respected Peruvian NGO - CIMA, and the            who gather resources from over 400 different
Althelia Climate Fund, the Cordillera Azul        non-animal forest species for every day use,
National Park REDD+ Project is preserving         and rely on the continuing healthy functioning
more than 1.3 million hectares of pristine        of soil and water for their survival. The Park
montane rainforest within the Cordillera Azul     protects cloud forests and provides for
National Park. The Park, the third largest in     the passage of clean water to surrounding
Peru, is bigger than the state of Connecticut     agricultural areas; its good management
and is wildly rich in biological diversity. The   avoids erosion, maintains rivers and provides
project will protect its unique biodiversity,     an abundance of fertile soil in floodplains; and
restore the degraded lands of small farmers       its wildlife and its very existence is the cultural
and native communities, and avoid more than       and spiritual bedrock for many.
15 million tonnes CO2 emissions over the
next 6 years, which is sufficient to offset all   Althelia is working with CIMA, a leading
the flights passing through London Heathrow       Peruvian NGO with over 12 years on-the-
Airport over the same period.                     ground experience in managing Natural
                                                  Protected Areas. In 2008 the Peruvian State
The National Park is considered a jewel           awarded CIMA the first 20-year full
in the Amazon Basin thanks to its unique          Administration Contract to manage the Park.
location at the intersection of the Andes         CIMA is responsible for implementing
mountain range and the Amazon Basin.              conservation and protection activities such as
Cordillera Azul supports a rich ecosystem of      control and surveillance, making it a strong,
indigenous biodiversity, climate protection       respected and effective partner to manage the
and a multicultural population living in the      project at a local and national level.
buffer zone around the Park. It is under
immediate threat from illegal logging and the
encroachment of subsistence farming by local
communities without access to alternative
ways of income generation.

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CORDILLERA AZUL NATIONAL PARK REDD+ PROJECT

THE DIFFERENCE WE MAKE
                                                                           CLIMATE
Althelia is making a critically important
strategic investment in the Cordillera Azul               FAIR
REDD+ Project, designed to reduce the                  ECONOMIC                                 SPECIES
pressure from deforestation through a                   RETURNS
combination of conservation monitoring and
border patrols inside the Park, the continued
roll out of community-based planning in
its buffer zone, and the development of          SUSTAINABLE
sustainable agricultural production in the                                                         ECOSYSTEMS
                                                  ENTERPRISE
populated areas outside its boundaries. The
project is validated and verified to CCBS
Gold level and VCS standards and addresses
all seven target outcomes under Althelia’s
                                                                 INCLUSIVITY      LIVELIHOODS
impact framework.

                                                                      ALTHELIA ESG “STAR”

CLIMATE                                         INCLUSIVITY

Avoidance of over 15 million tonnes of GHG      Participative planning has recognised
emissions over the next 6 years                 and ensured the critical involvement of
                                                neighbouring communities in all stages of the
SPECIES                                         implementation of the Park.

Long-term protection of more than 1.3 million
                                                SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE
hectares of pristine forest of incomparable
biodiversity value                              Contribution to the material welfare of more
                                                than 1500 local families through establishing
ECOSYSTEMS                                      new agroforestry plots on degraded land,
                                                improved health awareness, education, more
Protection of critical ecosystem services for
                                                housing, and a greater diversity of economic
local communities, including soil, water and
                                                activities to support a socially dynamic zone
over 400 different non-animal forest species
for every day use
                                                FAIR ECONOMIC RETURN

LIVELIHOODS                                     Multiple revenue streams from verified carbon
                                                units and improved agricultural practices
Respect and protection of Indigenous Peoples
                                                producing sustainable commodities that will
communities that have chosen to remain
                                                endure well beyond Althelia’s investment
in voluntary isolation within the borders of
the Park.

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CORDILLERA AZUL NATIONAL PARK REDD+ PROJECT

BIODIVERSITY
The biodiversity of the project area is           the Vivians, the spectacular slanted rocky
remarkable making Cordillera Azul National        formations that mark out the Park’s unique
Park on of the world’s most important             landscape, of which at least 12 are new
conservation areas. The Park protects a           to science.
pristine 1,353,190 ha area harboring twenty-
one types of habitat that include wetlands,       Camera traps have recorded healthy
palm swamps, cloud forests, lowland forest,       populations of tapirs, spectacled bears,
and terrace forests. The intact forests range     jaguars, and the elusive bush dogs. With over
from lowlands at 150 meters above sea level       90 species of large mammal, 600 species of
to mountain peaks at 2,400 meters above           birds, 70 of amphibians, 41 of reptiles and 175
sea level. Scientists at the Field Museum of      of fish, many of which are rare, endemic or
Chicago calculate that there could be between     both, Cordillera Azul really is a paradise
4000 and 6000 plant species sheltered by          on Earth.

COMMUNITIES
More than 180,000 people in 230                   recognises the critical involvement of
communities – immigrant and indigenous –          neighbouring communities and development
live in the extensive buffer zone of Cordillera   programs within the Park and its buffer zone
Azul National Park, which covers more than        in the Huallaga and Ucayali valleys.
2.5 million hectares. Villagers close to park
boundaries are highly dependent on the            This project will facilitate the recovery of
services it provides, especially water which      5000 hectares of degraded land made
is vital for their principal economic activity,   possible by the community-led Quality of
agriculture. Local populations practice slash-    Life plans that zone communal land for
and-burn subsistence agriculture, which           sustainable production, including coffee and
causes deforestation and rapidly increases        cocoa, as well as reforestation, agroforestry
soil degradation, further weakening their         and harvesting of non-timber forest products.
ability to develop sustainable lifestyles in      Cordillera Azul National Park contains
the forest.                                       Indigenous Peoples’ communities that have
                                                  chosen to remain in voluntary isolation
Local communities have been engaged               and the respect and protection of these
at all stages of the participatory planning       communities is central to the project. The
process of Cordillera Azul National Park’s        pressure on Indigenous Peoples territories
implementation - from delineating the borders     grows by the year and globally they are
to constructing and installing park signs         among the poorest communities; Cordillera
and eventually to patrolling the limits and       Azul is their home and recognised as such by
conducting an inventory of the wildlife. The      the State of Peru. Our investment will ensure
Park team have developed a comprehensive          that status is maintained and their way of
management plan, the Plan Maestro, that           life continues.

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CORDILLERA AZUL NATIONAL PARK REDD+ PROJECT

       CONTACT
       Juan Carlos Gonzalez Aybar
       jcgonzalez.aybar@althelia.com

       Althelia Climate Fund
       www.althelia.com

Supported by:

                                                     althelia.com
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