Relación entre procesos de restauración ecológica y modelos financieros de captura de carbono: una experiencia en la selva central del Perú

Abstract

The Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) mechanism has the potential to provide to developing countries with significant financing for ecological restoration activities that contribute to climate change mitigation, sustainable management, and carbon stock enhancement. To stimulate and inform the debate on the role of ecological restoration in REDD+, a case study (the Digital Conservation Offset project, Peru) describes the opportunities and challenges of using science-based restoration projects and programs to achieve REDD+'s objectives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and storing carbon in native ecosystems. Now that the REDD+ mechanism has expanded beyond focusing solely on activities that affect carbon budgets to also include those that enhance ecosystem services and generate other co-benefits for biodiversity and communities, ecological restoration could play an increasingly important role. However, in many countries, practical tools and guidance are lacking for implementing effective restoration projects and programs that capture carbon while simultaneously improving ecosystem integrity and resilience. This state of the art shows the case of the CDC Project in the Peruvian Amazon which was established by the Catholic University of Perú, Sapiente Campus.

This document provides a state-of-the-art analysis of the relationship between ecological restoration processes and financial models for carbon sequestration in the central Peruvian rainforest. This approach is based on a documentary review and field experience developed within the framework of an academic exchange between the University of Santo Tomás (USTA) and the Catholic University of Peru (Sapiente Campus). Through this work and a scient-metric exercise, the main trends, approaches, and gaps surrounding the application of these models in rural contexts are identified, with an emphasis on their socioeconomic and ecological impact. The reader will find a critical analysis of how carbon credits, and to a lesser extent than other mechanism such as voluntary offsets, can contribute to restoration and sustainable rural development, especially when applied on small properties known as "chacras," where agroforestry crops, forest remnants, and regenerating areas coexist.