Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon received legal recognition of their land ownership rights, which allows them to have access to state benefits and strengthens the buffer zone of the spectacular Sierra del Divisor National Park.

Nineteen indigenous communities working with participatory conservation projects implemented by Rainforest Trust’s local partner Center for the Development of an Indigenous Amazon (CEDIA) have recently received title ownership of their territories. The titles were presented by the CEO and Chairman of Rainforest Trust, as well as the Regional Governor, Director of the Agriculture Authority of Loreto Region and CEDIA staff on February 15 during a celebration in the Loreto Region of Peru, which highlighted the importance of community support in the protection of wildlife habitat and how vital it is to the success of long-term conservation strategies. Nine of the titles presented were directly supported by Rainforest Trust, and the nonprofit organization is working with CEDIA to secure land titles for additional communities.

These new land titles will strengthen the buffer zone of Sierra del Divisor National Park, a massive 3.3 million-acre protected area established with the support of CEDIA, local indigenous communities, Rainforest Trust and other supporters in 2015. The creation of this national park and its surrounding buffer zone have been part of a multi-year, multi-organizational effort to secure a conservation corridor that spans 67 million acres from the banks of the Amazon in Brazil to the snowcapped Andes of Peru. The region has some of the highest levels of biodiversity ever recorded on the planet and is thought to contain many species still unknown to science, and local communities actively participate in safeguarding the national park.

“It was a tremendous honor to present legal documents to indigenous leaders that finally own legal rights to their land,” said Rainforest Trust’s CEO Dr. Paul Salaman.

“Not only do these 19 communities now have access to state benefits such as healthcare and education, but their land greatly strengthens conservation efforts, as this blocks mining and logging concessions on their lands.”

The celebration also coincided with CEDIA’s 35th anniversary. Rainforest Trust and CEDIA have collectively protected almost 30 million acres of Amazon Rainforest by establishing land rights for hundreds of indigenous communities and by creating new protected areas and wildlife sanctuaries.

“Rainforest Trust has been a crucial partner for CEDIA for [25] years, together we have had extraordinary achievements for the conservation of the Amazon and the defense of its communities,” said Dani Rivera, project manager for CEDIA. “Such a long and successful relationship is only possible when based in confi­dence, results and loyalty in difficult times. We have great plans for the future and we are sure that we will continue to [make] history on the conservation of the Amazon with a global scope.”