Between Co-Management and Responsibilisation: Comparative Perspectives from Two Reservas Comunales in the Peruvian Amazon

Abstract

Peru introduced co-managed Reservas Comunales (Communal Reserves) as an alternative to the ‘fortress conservation’ approach that characterises other protected areas where Indigenous Peoples tend to be excluded from both the physical space and managerial aspects of conservation regimes. Although these Reserves are lauded internationally as supporting Indigenous Peoples' self-determination, this article examines the challenges that arise from the cogestión (co-management) regime for Indigenous organisations and communities. Focusing on the ‘responsibilisation’ relationships created in the co-management of two Communal Reserves, the article reflects on the different trajectories of this transfer of responsibilities, and the processes through which Indigenous co-management organisations are expected to adopt the government's conservation goals.