Analyzing multilevel governance in Peru: Lessons for REDD+ from the study of land-use change and benefit sharing in Madre de Dios, Ucayali and San Martin

Abstract

This study is based primarily on research conducted between July and November 2013 in Madre de Dios, Ucayali and San Martin, Peru, as part of CIFOR's Global Comparative Study (GCS) on REDD+, as well as direct engagement in Madre de Dios and San Martin through 2015. It is part of a multilevel governance study that includes Indonesia, Vietnam, Tanzania and Mexico. This particular study is positioned between two other CIFOR research components within the GCS: one focusing on actors, policies, and institutions relevant to REDD+ at the national level, and another on the livelihoods- and household-level impacts of REDD+ pilot projects. The goal of the present study is to explore the multilevel governance arrangements between these levels in order to understand how decisions are made by different actors across levels and sectors regarding land use and benefit sharing at the landscape scale. This includes how power is distributed, how information flows, the extent to which decision processes are participatory and whether processes and outcomes are legitimate. This report is organized with Section 2 providing a summary of the methods and study site selection, while Section 3 introduces the primary drivers of land use change across study regions. In Section, the distribution of power and influence over forests in both law and practice across sectors is analysed based on a review of law and policy and regional key informant interviews. Section 5 examines the different actors and policies that influence land use through business-as-usual development activities that tend to promote deforestation and forest degradation and through low-emissions projects such as REDD+. Section 6 offers an analysis of the benefits and burdens found in the REDD+ sites, as well as the legitimacy of the REDD+ project development process. It then uses the concept of legitimacy to examine local perceptions around the development of REDD+ initiatives and benefit-sharing arrangements. The study also considers REDD+'s potential to change land use practices through alternative land uses. The 14 low-emissions development study sites are used to analyse multilevel processes and outcomes for communities, including benefits and burdens and the legitimacy of processes and outcomes. The final section offers a short synthesis and conclusions, while the Appendix provides a summary of each of the study sites.