Title: Forest conservation versus indigenous forest territory rights in the Peruvian Amazon: the case of the Kechwa-Lamas village Alto Huaja and the roles of external actors

Authors: Josefin Egerlid; Kristina Marquardt; Örjan Bartholdson

Addresses: Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7012, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden ' Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7012, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden ' Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7012, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden

Abstract: The current competition for land in the Peruvian Amazon is a challenge to indigenous communities without legal ownership of their customary lands. This study analyses the strategies of Alto Huaja, a Kechwa-Lamas village in the region of San Martín, to gain possession over a forest area which they consider their ancestral territory. It explores how this struggle is influenced by external actors and ideas of how indigenous territories should be governed. Through a governmentality lens, we explore two tenure arrangements under discussion in San Martín - conservation concession and title - their rationales and their possible consequences for Alto Huaja. Data were collected through observation in Alto Huaja and interviews with nine organisations (governmental, non-governmental and indigenous), connected to Alto Huaja. Findings suggest that Kechwa-Lamas' control over their ancestral lands is becoming more tied to doing conservation than gaining rights as indigenous peoples. This could turn them from farmers to conservationists.

Keywords: governmentality; brokers; forest tenure; conservation concessions; deforestation; ethnicity; indigenous communities; indigenous identity; technologies of intervention; rendering technical; NGOs; non-governmental organisations; forest conservation; forest territorial rights; Peruvian Amazon; external actors; ancestral lands; indigenous territories; tenure arrangements; indigenous peoples.

DOI: 10.1504/IJARGE.2016.080894

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 2016 Vol.12 No.4, pp.381 - 405

Received: 19 Jan 2016
Accepted: 31 Aug 2016
Published online: 10 Dec 2016 *

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