Climate Action Inspiring Practices:Climate Action Inspiring Practices: Developing the Saweto Dedicated Grant Mechanism for Indigenous Peoples in PeruSnapshot

What

Th e preparation of a dedicated funding mechanism to directly support indigenous peoples in their eff orts to protect the Peruvian Amazon through sustainable forest management, improved land tenure and governance, and greater gender equality and inclusion.

Who» Indigenous organizations and

federations of the Peruvian Amazon, including the Inter-ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP) and the Confederation of Amazonian Nationalities of Peru (CONAP)

» Th e National Steering Committee (NSC) of the Saweto Dedicated Grant Mech-anism (DGM) Peru, comprised of 10 representatives from local indigenous organizations associated to AIDESEP and CONAP.

» World Bank

» WWF

WhereTh e Peruvian Amazon

When2012-ongoing

SummaryTh is inspiring practice focuses on an innovative process through which indigenous communities of the Peruvian Amazon are able to access direct support for their eff orts to protect the region’s forests. Th is fi rst-of-its-kind collaboration united two distinct national indigenous organizations with the World Bank in a fully participatory process to design the Saweto DGM Peru. Th e DGM will fi nance projects to be designed and implemented

directly by indigenous organizations and communities. Th ese projects are intended to foster empowered, informed and inclusive engagement with forest issues, and to strengthen environmental and community governance and land tenure through titling and recognition of indigenous communities.

DGM Saweto Peru: Living MemoryDedicated Grant Mechanism

ContextWith a vast variety of fl ora and fauna and more than 70 million hectares of natural forest, Peru’s Amazonian region is one of the world’s most biodiverse and vital landscapes1. It is also culturally vibrant, with thousands of indigenous communities representing 54 ethnic groups2.

Despite its richness and its signifi cance, this region faces growing threats from deforestation and forest degradation. An expanding agricultural frontier, palm oil plantations, cattle ranching, infrastructure projects, human migration, poorly planned urban expansion, gold mining, illegal logging, and the impacts of hydrocarbon industry exploration and exploitation have all contributed to forest loss. Deforestation and forest degradation deeply aff ect indigenous communities that depend on the forests for both their livelihoods and their cultural and spiritual wellbeing.

In 2012, members of two national organizations representing Peruvian Amazonian indigenous peoples took part in the Dedicated Grant Mechanism (DGM), a special initiative of the World Bank’s Forest Investment Program (FIP) that places project design and funding decisions directly in the hands of indigenous peoples. Th is led to a collaboration that culminated in the development of “Saweto, Living Memory,” a DGM for Peru’s Amazonian indigenous communities to be administered by WWF over fi ve years. Th e DGM was so named to honor the Asheninka community of Saweto’s ongoing fi ght to protect its forests from the pressures of illegal logging—a fi ght that has cost some of its community leaders their lives, and that exemplifi es the larger struggle of all indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon.

Direct stakeholdersInvolved in project design, make decisions, and receive benefi ts

0 More than 2,000 indigenous communities of the Peruvian Amazon, represented by the national indigenous organizations AIDESEP and CONAP

0 Th e 18 indigenous organizations that will design and implement the DGM-funded subprojects (referred to as the “project intermediaries”): 9 regional indigenous organizations associated with AIDESEP, including ARPI, CORPI, CODEPISAM, CORPIAA, COMARU, FENAMAD, ORAU, ORPIAN, and ORPIO; and 9 indigenous federations associated with CONAP, including CART, OCAM, FECONACA, FEMIAL, OCCAAM, FECONADIC, UCIP, FEPIBAC, and ACONAKKU

0 Leaders of indigenous women’s groups

Strategic stakeholdersProvide material, human, and other resources

0 World Bank

0 Ministry of the Environment

0 WWF Peru, as the National Executing Agency (NEA) for the DGM

© Diego Peürez / WWF-Peru

Project Development TimelineNovember 2012: During the meeting of the Forest Investment Program pilot countries in Istanbul, Turkey, representatives from the indigenous Inter-ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP) and the Confederation of Amazonian Nationalities of Peru (CONAP) learn of the DGM initiative and begin to take steps to prepare the Peru DGM project.

2013: Indigenous organizations sustain direct dialogue with World Bank to tailor DGM global guidelines to local needs and context. Over the course of 10 meetings spaced across 6 to 8 months, more than 30 indigenous federations and organizations associated with AIDESEP and CONAP work together to form a national steering committee for the Peru DGM project and to establish priorities, responsibilities, and bylaws.

September 2013: Preliminary meetings between the National Steering Committee (NSC) and the World Bank commence. Th e World Bank assists the NSC by initiating environmental and social assessments and capacity-building activities.

March 2014: During the fi rst project preparation mission at the AIDESEP headquarters in Lima, the World Bank team provides capacity building in Bank policies and procedures. An Aide Memoire is signed by all parties establishing a basic design, some details for the institutional arrangements and a timeline for project preparation.

September 2014: A large consultation with indigenous leaders from the DGM project area is convened in Tarapoto. Th e basic design of the DGM Peru is presented and their views regarding the recommendations of the social and environmental consultants are incorporated into a more advanced design.

During the preparation mission and consultation in September 2014: Four indigenous leaders, including the leader of the Alto Tamaya-Saweto community, are murdered, allegedly by the illegal loggers they opposed. Th e leaders gathered in Tarapoto for the DGM preparation mission unanimously decide to name the DGM “Saweto, Living Memory,” in their honor, because this loss exemplifi es the ongoing battle of indigenous people to preserve their territories and their rights.

August to October 2014: Following an open and transparent selection process, the National Steering Committee chooses WWF

as the National Executing Agency to execute the grant and provide administrative and technical support to the regional indigenous organizations and federations.

September 2015: Th e World Bank Board of Directors approves the US$5.5 million project. Th e Grant Agreement between WWF and the World Bank for the implementation of the Saweto Living Memory DGM is signed in Lima by the Country Director for Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, Latin America and the Caribbean and WWF Peru Director.

October to November 2015: Th e National Steering Committee, the 18 project intermediaries and WWF meet to jointly develop the long-term strategy and operational plan for the fi rst year of the DGM Peru project.

2015: Th e National Steering Committee, World Bank and WWF formulate the Operational Manual of the DGM Peru project.

Achievements0 Th e Saweto, Living Memory Dedicated

Grant Mechanism (DGM) is the second of the eight country level DGMs to be approved by the World Bank. Its preparation is one of the Bank’s fi rst direct engagements with indigenous peoples.

0 Th e DGM project will be implemented over fi ve years, with expected results that include: recognition of 310 native communities in the Amazon in the National Registry of Native Communities; land demarcation and titling for 130 native communities representing at least 780,000 hectares of land; and satisfactory implementation of 50 food security, 20 income-generating and fi ve community-based forest management subprojects. Th ese changes will strengthen land tenure for indigenous Amazonian communities, respect social and environmental safeguards, and foster alternative economic approaches that challenge the major drivers of deforestation and incentivize sustainable forest management.

0 AIDESEP and CONAP united in a historic collaboration. Although both AIDESEP and CONAP work to defend the rights of indigenous communities, each had operated independently and with diff ering approaches and allies prior to the establishment of the National DGM Steering Committee. But the organizations were able to successfully set aside their diff erences to create the DGM

project together.

0 Indigenous Amazonian communities were able to eff ectively engage in an intercultural dialogue and collaboration to reach a consensus with the World Bank and among indigenous groups.

0 Indigenous Amazonian communities demonstrated their considerable capacity to work together and to be eff ective and effi cient through their design of a complex project in a very short time.

Challenges0 Th e Saweto DGM represents an important

innovation in direct fi nancing from a multilateral development bank to indigenous peoples. As such, it is new to all the organizations involved, and its development and implementation is a learning process that may raise questions and present diffi culties early on.

0 Th e Saweto DGM will require international cooperation and adequate fi nancial support in order to successfully and sustainably achieve greater land tenure and recognition for indigenous Amazonian communities.

0 Th e Saweto DGM aspires to transform land titling, recognition of rights and tenure for indigenous communities, all of which are within the purview of national and regional authorities. Its success depends on these authorities living up to their legal

and political commitments surrounding the governance of indigenous territories.

0 Managing expectations and maintaining the time and energy to participate among the communities that will benefi t from the Saweto DGM is an ongoing challenge.

Lessons Learned0 It is possible—and necessary—to work

together for lasting change. Despite signifi cant challenges and diff erences, the stakeholders in this process were able to work together effi ciently and eff ectively.

0 Achieving a worthwhile goal takes hard work and time. It is easy to focus on outcomes and not see the steps required to achieve them. Developing and proposing this project took more time and work than any of its stakeholders anticipated, and it revealed that there are no easy solutions. Real change demands diffi cult decisions and long-term eff ort—but it is possible if all stakeholders commit to completing the work.

0 Clear communication is essential for a successful participatory process. Th is innovative process required stakeholders who speak diff erent languages, come from diff erent cultures, and have diff erent views and priorities to venture into new territory together. Its success depended on their willingness to bridge the gaps between them, and the ability to clearly communicate

For more information, contact:National Steering Committee (NSC) of DGM Saweto Peru. mdesawetoperu@gmail.comAIDESEP. aidesep@aidesep.net.peCONAP. conap@conap.org.peNational Executing Agency (NSA). WWF Peru. mdeperu@wwfperu.org

This document was possible thanks to the support of WWF.