| Conserving the Cuyas Cloud Forest
| International recognition
of bird diversity supports conservation of Cuyas Cloud Forest |
The mountainous cloud forest of Cuyas in Piura
includes about 3,000 acres at an elevation of 8,200 feet above sea
level, and represents a precious fragment of native Andean forest
on the western slope of the Andes. BirdLife International has recognized
the mountainous cloud forest of Cuyas as an "Important Bird
Area" making our conservation efforts here even more imperative.
 The
area is in relatively good conservation condition considering its
proximity to the city of Ayabaca, due to agreements established
by the community to regulate extraction of wood and access of cattle
to the forest. However, threats to the forest are imminent. Despite
efforts to enforce the agreements, it has been difficult to control
the number and types of people that enter the forest. Local authorities
have provided only limited support and management, and the local
people, especially non-natives, lack awareness of and involvement
in the forest’s conservation.
NCI is currently supporting conservation
efforts in Cuyas through a wide array of programs:
- We are working with the rural community of
Chuchayo to engage community members in resource management, environmental
education, research, and sustainable production activities. The
project provides training courses on aspects of leadership, gender
equality, civil awareness, exercising rights, and conservation.
We have also helped to set up and organize the Conservationist
Committee of the Forests of the Community.
 In
local schools, we have trained a number of teachers in the Schoolyard
Ecology methodology, and have also produced an educational guidebook
on the cloud forest. We have also helped to establish a Children’s
Birdwatchers Club and a chapter of the “World of Children”
program (Tierra de Niños or TiNi).- We are helping to promote scientific research
on the biodiversity of the forest through a Bachelor of Science
degree graduation thesis.
- We have also identified sustainable production
activities and have strengthened local capacities through workshops
and internships on agro-ecology, apiculture (beekeeping), organic
waste composting, and reforestation.
- Meeting with local authorities and other institutions,
we have helped to assure political support for conservation efforts,
including production and implementation of a plan of development
for Ayabaca Province.
- We have also helped to form a community environment
policy proposal for the conservation of the forest, a strategy
for communication, a program of environmental education, and a
document that has formed the basis for a management plan for the
Forest of Cuyas.
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