This small collaborative activity has derived from project PD 583/10 Rev.1 (F), which was implemented to assess the feasibility of restoring arid or sub-humid ecosystems in the southern coastal region of Peru and which has proven to be highly beneficial from an environmental and socioeconomic viewpoint after reforesting 75 hectares with Caesalpinea spinosa in eriaza (waste) lands that previously had no economic or environmental value.

As a result of the aforementioned phase, it has been possible to develop a new flora and fauna ecosystem of considerable significance and the future outlook of nearly one million hectares in this Peruvian coastal ecosystem has been improved by contributing not only to the socioeconomic development of the region but also to carbon sequestration, increasing CO2 storage levels from 0 to an average 8-10 Mt/ha/year. This is fully consistent with the concepts and strategies of climate change mitigation and rehabilitation of degraded forest lands.

This collaborative activity will be implemented in the Department of Arequipa, Province of Camaná, in Southern Peru. Given its ecological, environmental and socioeconomic conditions, this region is highly significant and representative of tropical semi-arid or sub-humid areas in Peru, where social, economic and environmental alternatives need to be adjusted to the shortage of water for both irrigation and human consumption, so as to generate economic income to help improve the living standards of the rural population. The specific objective of the collaborative activity is to develop guidelines for SFM and agroforestry systems with a view to the rehabilitation of degraded lands in the Peruvian coastal region and develop a technological package that can be used for reforestation with Caesalpinea spinosa and agroforestry systems.

The following outcomes are expected to be produced by the end of the collaborative activity: i) Consolidation of technical experiences in the management and competitive production of Tara in the southern coastal region of Peru through a high productivity module; ii) Development of a technological package for the management of Tara and associated agroforestry systems; and iii) Guidelines for SFM in Tara plantations and rehabilitation of degraded and eriaza lands to be applied throughout the coastal region of Peru.

This collaborative activity is consistent with objectives 1, 2 and 3 of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative, IPSI, Plan of Action which point to the need for increased knowledge and understanding of socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SELPS) by making scientific information and traditional knowledge widely available, addressing the direct and underlying causes responsible for the decline or loss of biological and cultural diversity as well as ecological and socio-economic services from SELPS so as to restore and/or recover them and increasing the sustainable delivery of ecosystem services for human well-being.