Peru assumed the commitment to restore 3.2 million hectares of forests in degraded and deforested areas as part of its adaptation and mitigation strategy for climate change.
Announcement was made by Mirbel Epiquien, Director General for Sustainable Management of Forest Heritage and Wildlife at Peru's National Forestry and Wildlife Service (Serfor).
According to Epiquien, Serfor and other institutions like Agro Rural, INIA, and Minagri develop the National Program for the Recovery of Degraded Areas to meet the said goal, which is part of the Initiative 20x20, launched in December last year on the sidelines of COP 20 in Lima.
The official argues that such restoration contributes to mitigation and adaptation to climate change and increases resilience or response capacity to overcome the global environmental situation.
There are more than 10.5 million hectares of land available for reforestation in Peru: 7.5 million ha in the highlands, 2.5 million in the jungle and 500,000 on the coast. This enormous forest potential has not been capitalized for different factors.
“Here at Serfor we promote a sustainable management of our forests, which stretch over 57% of the country's surface area. Over 4,000 out of the 22,000 flora species recorded in the country are trees. Peru has about 1,600 trees per person,” he commented.
(END) LZD/MAO/RMB
Published: 4/23/2016