Peru is home to a rich array of landscapes, including the Amazon rainforest, Andean mountains, and coastal deserts, making it one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. However, it faces significant environmental challenges, particularly deforestation in the Amazon, driven by agricultural expansion, illegal logging, and mining. Land degradation is also a concern, exacerbated by unsustainable land use practices. Climate change further intensifies these issues, with the Andes experiencing glacial retreat and the country facing more frequent and severe extreme weather events. These challenges pose serious threats to Peru's biodiversity and ecosystem health, making sustainable land management and conservation efforts critical to protecting its natural heritage. 
 

PROGREEN supports a country knowledge program in Peru to assist in policy dialogues and provide critical analytical inputs for sustainable forest and landscape management, with a particular focus on the Amazon biome and surrounding areas. This involves supporting key legal and institutional reforms, as well as forest restoration and management within and outside of natural protected areas (NPAs). 
  

Progress on the program has included the delivery of a workshop on net-zero deforestation, held in collaboration with SERFOR in November 2023, which produced significant forestry policy proposals. Additionally, a workshop organized with around 20 donors addressed potential forestry policy directions in response to the December 2023 amendment of the Forestry Law. 
 

The program has also focused on climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, green finance, and the inclusion of vulnerable groups, especially Indigenous Peoples. Workshops and policy dialogues have explored innovative green finance mechanisms and emphasized the roles of women and Indigenous communities in forest management. Collaboration with the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes (ASL) team and the World Bank’s Forestry Investment Program (FIP) has further strengthened the program’s impact, contributing valuable input to IBRD DPOs and the Peru Sustainable Growth and Financing DPF-DDO, which includes a forest policy prior action on commercial forest plantation development.