VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHPE #0658/01 0651545
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061545Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY LIMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4244
INFO RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 4410
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 7234
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 2810
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0204
RUEHGE/AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN 0513
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ MAR PARAMARIBO 0147
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 1049
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 1142
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS LIMA 000658 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/AND, EPSC AND OES/ETC,ENV 
BRASILIA FOR ESTH HUB - JSTORY 
USAID FOR LAC, EGAT 
USDA FOR /AS/FAA/BAILEY,/FAS/ITP/FSTSD/BREHM,/FS/MAYHE W 
INTERIOR FOR USFWS/GABRIEL,ST.JOHN 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: OVIP EAGR SENV ETRD EAID ECON PE
SUBJECT: CODEL NELSON VISITS PERU COCA DEFORESTATION SITE 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY:  On February 22, Senator Bill Nelson visited Peru's 
high jungle city of Tarapoto to view woodlands deforested by coca 
cultivation and traditional agricultural pressures.  Accompanied by 
Emboffs, CODEL Nelson also visited sites of USG efforts to provide 
alternatives to coca and slash-and-burn agriculture: a 
USAID-supported indigenous coffee cooperative and the 
government-supported Tropical Crop Institute. Regional authorities 
are also working to promote reforestation.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  Senator Bill Nelson (D, FL) visited Peru February 21-23, 
accompanied by staff members. He visited Lima, where he received a 
country team briefing and met with President Garcia (Septel). 
Accompanied by State and USAID officers, the delegation spent the 
rest of the trip in the high jungle city of Tarapoto, in Peru's 
northeast, viewing woodlands deforested by coca cultivation and 
traditional agricultural pressures. 
 
BACKGROUND - DEFORESTATION IN PERU AND TARAPOTO 
--------------------------------------------- -- 

¶3. Over half of Peru, around 69 million hectares (ha) is forested, 
of which 89% is primary forest, among the most biodiverse in the 
world. From 1990 through 2005, Peru lost 2% of its forests (1.4 
million ha). The Department (or Region) of San Martin, of which 
Tarapoto is the principal economic center, has the highest 
deforestation rate in Peru.  In addition to being one of the largest 
producers of illicit coca, San Martin exports the most wood 
products.  Other human deforestation pressures include agriculture 
(60% of the economic activity) and livestock ranching. 
 
¶4. Climate and topography combine to exacerbate deforestation in San 
Martin. The terrain in this "high jungle" is steep. An intense rainy 
season creates landslides that occur more readily in eroded hills 
that have been deforested. The recurrent "El Nino" weather 
phenomenon makes for even heavier rains and landslides every few 
years; Peru is currently experiencing a mild El Nino this year, 
 
which paradoxically also produces less rain in some areas.  Finally, 
glacier melting is producing heavier river flows which also 
accelerate riparian deforestation. 
 
DRAMATIC OVERFLIGHT 
------------------- 

¶5. Following a State/USAID briefing on deforestation in Peru, 
Senator Nelson's hour and a half overflight surveyed from a low 
altitude the mountainous terrain along the Moyo and Huallaga rivers. 
 This area was in a dry spell with parched land.  Upon landing, the 
delegation was able to see up close land that had been logged, 
burned and planted.   USG-financed Peruvian eradicators had 
successfully cleared this area, and no coca plants were visible. 
From the air, the land appeared as a patchwork of dry, burned and 
cultivated fields, in stark contrast to the unbroken natural forest 
cover of the nearby Cordillera Azul mountain range. 
 
TPOPICAL CROP INSITUTE SHOWS ALTERNATIVES 
----------------------------------------- 

¶6. In order to examine alternatives to the coca cultivation that 
leads to deforestation.  CODEL Nelson visited the Tropical Crop 
Institute (ICT), a not-for-profit agricultural lab funded by State's 
Bureau of International Crime and Law Enforcement.  The ICT 
demonstrated coffee plant grafting by former coca-growers, and 
accompanied the CODEL on a  walking tour of the many species being 
bred to subsist in the various unique conditions of the high jungle 
microclimates.  Research done at the ICT is used to demonstrate to 
farmers how to grow productive crops in the lowlands and not 
deforest the hills where people grow coca. 
 
ALTERNATIVES: VISIT TO COFFEE COOPERATIVE 
----------------------------------------- 

¶7. CODEL Nelson saw the marketing end of alternatives to 
deforestation, a coffee cooperative in the indigenous community of 
Lamas in the hills above Tarapoto. The Oro Verde coffee cooperative 
has been supported by USAID as a way to help families, particularly 
women that run households, to market licit alternatives to coca. 
The cooperative, a joint effort by over 200 families in the region, 
is currently exporting coffee and cacao products to the United 
States and Europe. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 

¶8. Deforestation is a significant problem in Peru, and the GOP, the 
USG, many NGO's and other donor nations are working to control it. 
Observers have noted that President Garcia's "Sustainable Forest" 
program announced during his election campaign has hardly 
materialized, but many in his party have told us that his first 
priority was always his "Highland Exporter" program to develop the 
economy of the high mountains. During the past three months the GOP 
has been restructuring INRENA, the agency responsible for natural 
resources management, with emphasis on decentralization. On the 
night that CODEL Nelson arrived, Garcia announced the GOP's 
intention to reforest 500,000 ha by 2011. The new regional president 
of San Martin intends to conduct the pilot for this effort.  USAID 
has been requested to be a lead technical agent in this effort, 
although declining USAID budgets make this problematic. 
 
¶9.  Senator Nelson's staff cleared on this cable. 
STRUBLE