The Governance and Infrastructure in the Amazon Workshop in the Loreto Mosaic took place on July 10-11, 2019 in Iquitos, Peru with 56 participants: 17 from different offices of the Loreto Regional Government (GOREL), 3 from Peruvian universities, 2 from the national government, 4 representatives of Protected Areas Management Committees, 1 representative of an indigenous organization, 21 from NGOs and 8 from the University of Florida.

The main objective of the workshop was to establish a Community of Practice and Learning on infrastructure and governance in Loreto. Specific objectives were:

  • to promote interchange among the actors currently working on governance and infrastructure projects in Loreto;
  • to achieve a shared understanding of the role of infrastructure projects in the visions of territorial planning in this region;
  • to identify priority themes and geographic areas to address as a Community of Practice and Learning; and
  • to explore guidelines and platforms for future interactions.
PERU WORKSHOP
PERU WORKSHOP
PERU WORKSHOP
PERU WORKSHOP
PERU WORKSHOP
PERU WORKSHOP
PERU WORKSHOP
PERU WORKSHOP

The workshop included presentations by The Nature Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Society, Conservation Strategy Fund, and Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales about their projects on territorial planning, a citizen-science Community of Practice, analysis of road project costs and benefits, and strategies for low-carbon rural development.  The Regional Government of Loreto presented the “Plan de Desarrollo Regional Concertado Loreto al 2021.” This catalyzed a discussion on the role of waterway and road infrastructure in the context of regional competitiveness, development and conservation.

Workshop participants also carried out participatory timeline and mapping exercises.  The timeline illustrated key events related to infrastructure, conservation and governance in Loreto.  Participatory mapping was used to collectively identify and discuss priority areas, potential threats, and existing or potential actions related to infrastructure development.  These activities were aimed at collectively constructing and discussing a synthesis of the regional context, threats and opportunities.

In terms of creating a regional Community of Practice and Learning, the group identified key questions for subsequent activities:

  • How to incorporate technical information and analysis in decision-making?
  • How to adapt and make more effective plans to influence the development of infrastructure projects?
  • How to develop a shared understanding among diverse stakeholders of the meaning of development for Loreto?
PERU WORKSHOP
PERU WORKSHOP
PERU WORKSHOP

Subsequent activities being developed by the Loreto Community of Practice and Learning include analysis and synthesis of workshop timeline and participatory mapping exercises, returning of these results to CoP-L participants for reflection and discussion, analysis of cases of effective implementation of strategies and tools to stop or mitigate infrastructure projects such as the Amazon Waterway, analysis of regional networks of collaboration and conservation strategies, and webinars for information exchange and dialogue.