The Bajo Putumayo Communal Reserve protects more than 234,000 hectares of Amazon rainforest in Loreto, Peru. Promoted by Indigenous organizations and jointly managed with the Peruvian State, this experience shows how rights-based conservation is built from the territory itself.
In the Putumayo basin, conservation is not an abstract idea, but a process shaped by collective decision-making, Indigenous organization, and territorial governance. The creation of the Bajo Putumayo Communal Reserve is part of a broader vision aimed at securing territory against external pressures and strengthening the sustainable management of natural resources.
From the Instituto del Bien Común (IBC), Freddy Ferreyra shares some of the key lessons emerging from this process.
A connected territory beyond borders
Putumayo is a strategic territory at the Amazon scale. Its ecosystems function as a biological and cultural corridor connecting the Putumayo and Napo rivers within a basin shared by Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil.
In this landscape, biodiversity and community life are deeply interconnected, and conservation is approached as a long-term territorial strategy.
Its biological richness is remarkable: the area hosts 65% of Peru’s freshwater fish species and more than 30% of the mammals recorded in the country, in addition to over 4,500 identified species of flora and fauna.
“This is a key territory for conservation because it connects ecosystems and cultures across the Amazon, beyond national borders,” explains Freddy Ferreyra from the Instituto del Bien Común (IBC).
A reserve driven from the territory
The creation process of the Bajo Putumayo Communal Reserve emerged from the initiative of Indigenous organizations themselves. Local Indigenous federations — including FECONAFROPU, FECONA and FEPIROA — promoted this proposal as a strategy to secure their territories and respond to external threats.
This vision helped shape a conservation mosaic that brings together different territorial use categories in coordination with areas such as Yaguas National Park.
The reserve is a protected natural area managed under a co-management model, in which the State and Indigenous communities share responsibility for territorial governance and the sustainable use of natural resources.
This territory is home to 13 communities belonging to six Indigenous Peoples: Bora, Murui-Muinanɨ, Kichwa, Ocaina, Ticuna and Yagua.
Prior consultation: participation and agreements
A central element in the creation of the reserve was the prior consultation process, carried out in a participatory and informed manner with the communities involved.
Each community was represented through its authorities and assembly-elected representatives, allowing direct dialogue on the proposal and its implications.
The process concluded with 29 agreements and four commitments addressing both territorial governance and broader needs related to basic services and organizational strengthening.
Co-management: shared governance in practice
The Bajo Putumayo Communal Reserve is managed through a co-management model between the State and Indigenous communities.
Through the Administrative Contract Executor (ECA by its Spanish acronym), communities participate directly in decision-making regarding the management of the area, including planning, territorial protection, and the definition of sustainable resource-use strategies.
This model directly involves Indigenous communities in territorial governance and allows them to benefit from the reserve.
It also strengthens territorial governance and works in coordination with the Indigenous federations active across the basin.
Defending territory through practice
Beyond its formal establishment, the reserve is sustained through a range of community-led initiatives.
Fishing, forestry and wildlife monitoring committees — officially recognized by authorities — actively monitor the territory. These efforts are complemented by sustainable resource management initiatives and species recovery programs, including work to protect chelonians, Amazonian turtles whose recovery forms part of strategies promoted by communities themselves.
These actions contribute to strengthening territorial control and sustaining the responsible use of natural resources over time.
Lessons that go beyond the territory
The Putumayo experience offers important lessons for rights-based conservation processes, both in the Amazon and beyond.
The role of Indigenous organizations has been central in sustaining the process, facilitating dialogue with the State, and ensuring that conservation responds to community priorities.
At the same time, exchange spaces between communities have helped strengthen capacities and expose participants to other co-management models, expanding the possibilities for replicating similar experiences elsewhere.
Key facts about the Bajo Putumayo Communal Reserve
- +234,000 hectares of Amazon rainforest protected
- 13 Indigenous beneficiary communities
- Co-management model between the State and Indigenous communities
- Amazonian biocultural corridor (Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil)
This experience is supported by Rainforest Trust to strengthen rights-based conservation in the Amazon.