Transformations and eco-territorial governance innovations: The case of the Chaparri Nature Reserve, Peru

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the expansion of Peru’s agro-export sector has driven agricultural frontiers into the Lambayeque region, leading to the criminalization of local peasant communities that advocate for nature conservation. In this paper, we examine the Chaparri Nature Reserve, the first private protected area created by a peasant community in Peru. We develop the concept of “eco-territorial governance innovations” to analyze how Chaparri’s collective action restores dry forest ecosystems and provides new socio-economic and socio-ecological development venues for peasant communities facing criminalization. Our findings show that eco-territorial governance innovations play a crucial role in reconstructing nature-culture relations and addressing socio-political gaps related to nature conservation and other socio-environmental causes. Through their governance innovations, the historically oppressed Chaparri community is developing alternatives to counteract adverse conditions, recover from marginalization, reaffirm their identities, and strengthen both local and trans-local ties.