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Potato park Peru

Cusco, Peru 2002 -

Association of Communities of the Potato Park


Breve descripción
The Potato Park is located in the Cusco Region which was largely deforested during colonial times. In its natural state, the ecosystem in this mountaneous area in the Andes is categorised as subtropical moist broadleaf forests. The Potato Park works with 6 Quechua indigenous communities and is collectively owned and governed by the Association of Communities of the Potato Park. The park focuses on protecting and preserving the critical role and inderdependency of indigenous biocultural heritage for local rights, livelihoods, conservation and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity.

Propósito principal
Adaptación/resiliencia climática,
Reducir la competencia por los recursos naturales,
Increasing community cohesion / community building, Strengthening indigenous culture

Otros beneficios esperados
Conservación/restauración de la biodiversidad,
Food security,
Provisión / protección / diversificación del empleo y los medios de vida / reducción de la pobreza,
Gender equality

Quechua farmers in the Potato Park Peru celebrate the spirit of the potato, 2002 – present. Credit: Asociación ANDES.

Contexto de conflicto
Stark politcal and social differences, widespread poverty and harsh living condidtions, and lacking government support for people living in vulnerable situations, has led to protests and the arrest of president Castillo in 2022. Grievances were exacerbated as Peru saw the heaviest loss of life per captia due to COVID 19 and trust in Peru’s democratic institutions is the lowest in Latin America.

Although peace has been restored, grievances remain, especially among indgenous communities who have felt neglected and mistreated by the government for centuries. Peru is the second-largest cocaine producer in the world and coca plantations often encroach on natural parks and indigenous lands, leaving Indigenous people to bear the burden of the narcotics industry.

Contribuciones a la paz y la seguridad
Strengthened Andean cultural values and identity, and stronger social cohesion, have contributed to adaptation by helping to sustain resilient ecosystems and high levels of resilient agrobiodiversity, and by promoting social equity and inclusion so that the adaptation needs of the most vulnerable are addressed. Improved security and reduced conflict over resources. Before the work by ANDES began, there were serious conflicts over resources between communities. Such conflicts no longer occur as competition for resources has been replaced by collaborative management.

Elementos de buenas prácticas reportados

The Potato Park biocultural heritage territory model is unlike a ‘national park’ because it is run by the communities instead of governments, on the basis of customary laws. This community-led model of territorial management enables ‘self-determination’.

Decisions are made by community institutions. Any project needs to be approved by communities through a free prior and informed consent process. Projects must also ensure communities play a leading role in project design, facilitation, data collection and analysis.

Projects are implemented by community technical experts, with ANDES providing technical support. Community technical experts are elected by the community authority.

Desafíos reportados

  • Low donor/government priority at the local level.
  • Insufficient knowledge at the government level on ecosystem-based approaches.
  • Weak collective community-level institutions, which were particularly challenging at the start of the project.
  • A lack of technical skills at the local government levels. These skills exist at the local level, but have not been institutionalised within government.
Lista de Verificación
Evaluación de impacto ambiental: se ha identificado un impacto positivo en el medio ambiente
Evaluación del impacto en la paz y la seguridad: se ha identificado un impacto positivo en la paz y la seguridad.
No se consulta a un experto en paz y seguridad
Sin análisis de conflictos
Participación de la comunidad
Programación sin género e inclusiva
Sostenibilidad en caso de aumento de la violencia

Detalles prácticos de implementación.
Local-level support for the Potato Park is enough to ensure sustainability of the initiative, but the threat of mining remains and the political environment is not always conducive to sustainability. At the regional level, the policy environment was not conducive to sustainability at the start of the project, but the Potato Park helped create a favourable policy environment as it matured.

Método de seguimiento de los impactos ambientales y de paz.
This project involved the development of biocultural indicators for monitoring and evaluation of indigenous food sovereignty within the Traditional Resource Rights (TRR) framework. TRR refers to a bundle of rights that support indigenous peoples, including human rights and rights to environmental justice, food, climate justice, and local biocultural heritage. Conventional monitoring and evaluation practices are based on indicators identified by scientists and policy makers, not by the communities themselves. In this project, community researchers developed indicators based on traditional knowledge and biocultural heritage, in collaboration with academics and scientists, to create culturally sensitive monitoring tools.

The method of monitoring the peace impact is currently unknown.