Peru : Questions

Is there a published policy on forest tenure?

It there an explicit current document which defines or describes land and forest tenure policy? If so, has it been used to inform the forest law and other norms (or has it been produced after the forest law)? Is it up-to-date or does it require revisions in the light of REDD, mining, tenure conflicts, or other threats and opportunities?  Read the report...

No. But, as a natural resource, lands with major forest use potential cannot be sold (Political Constitution of Peru, and Constitutional Law of Natural Resources Use). The Forests and Wildlife Law, approved by Law No.27308, sets the form for their use. Read more...

Is there a register of private forestland owners? Is it accessible to the public?

Where private forestland ownership is possible within the Constitution and legal framework, can the ownership of each area of forest be publically accessed?  Read the report...

There is no register of ownership of forest lands. Though there is a Register of Concessions of Forests, Wildlife and for Forestation and Reforestation. Read more...

Is there a difference in law between ownership and use?

Does the law make a clear difference between owners and users of forests / forest products? If so, please explain it.  Read the report...

Yes. Ownership implies the possibility to use, enjoy, manage and claim a good - while rights over forest lands are limited to the use of their fruits and products by those entitled to such rights. However, natural and forest resources are National Heritage, recognized by the Political Constitution of Peru; for this reason, natural resources are not given out to third parties as private property, as they are not property of the state. Read more...

Is the ownership of different forest products clear?

Is it codified and understood who has rights to timber, minerals, non-timber forest products, wildlife, water, carbon etc? Are all these types of product available to all, or is there some form of differentiation (for example, private forest owners can issue the right to log, but only the state can issue the right to mine; or only the state can issue the right to log, but local communities who own the land can issue the right to collect non-timber forest products).  Read the report...

Yes, according to what established in Article 4 of Law 26821, Constitutional Law on the Use of Natural Resources: "Natural resources, kept in their original place, being these renewable or not, are National Heritage. The fruits and products of natural resources obtained in the form established by the Constitutional Law on the Use of Natural Resources, i.e. by means of award of concessions, belong to the owners of the rights granted" Read more...

Can you provide examples of forest tenure disputes?

What information can you provide on the extent of disputes over either (i) the right to land, (ii) the right to forest use or products, or (iii) the ways in which these rights are administered?  Read the report...

Forest lands cannot be sold.
However, the following conflicts emerge:
Rights referred to the ownership of forest lands: conflicts of superposition of other rights conferred on native communities' lands (Amazonians indigenous communities) or peasant communities (Peasant indigenous communities) or rural properties.
Over resources: conflicts caused by illegal logging and other activities affecting the forest resource.
On resource management: issuing special procedures that contradict the general rule. For example, the Ministerial Resolution No. 0192-2009-AG

Yes. According to the Monthly Report on Social Conflicts No.67 of the Ombusdman, 132 socio-environmental conflicts have been registered in September 2009 (most of them related to the implementation of high-impact extractive activities in indigenous peoples' territories), 16 communal conflicts, 14 conflicts for land boundaries and 4 specifically related to selling lands illegally. Furthermore, there might be an undetermined number of unregistered overlaps.

Is there a dispute-settlement process for tenure conflicts?

Are there clear, documented, understood and accessible steps for resolving tenure conflicts?  Read the report...

Yes. However it's not possible to determine the exact number of lawsuits because the government has not systematized such information. Read more...

Are ownership and forest land use maps available?

It is possible, at national or sub-national level, to view or obtain maps indicating forest ownership and current permit-holders for different forest use? So, for example, it is possible to calculate what proportion of forest land has documented title, or what proportion is under logging concessions? Are such maps digitised?  Read the report...

There is no Unified National Register, but (according to the Resolution N° 090-2007-COFOPRI/DE) there is the project to set up a National Plan of Formalisation with the aim of achieving the sustainability of the Process of Formalisation implemented by the National Body for the Formalisation of Ownership (COFOPRI). Read more...