Sarah Lupberger

My research focused on the emergence of community forest management in the Peruvian Amazon. Community forest management is primarily focused in native communities, and either done through contracts with third-party loggers or with the technical and financial support of NGOs.

I conducted interviews with national and regional government officials, leading NGO representatives, native communities, indigenous federations, and international funders, and business representatives. Implementation challenges exist at the national and local level, emphasizing the need for multi-level strategies. However, policy has emerged at the national level through a variety of factors including domestic direct action, international agreements, international financial support, and the technical support of national and international civil society organizations.

The results will include insights into strategies that have been effective as well as identify potential new strategies to promote forest management in Peru that improves livelihoods and promotes forest conservation. Like the forest sector itself, this research combines multiple fields, sectors and disciplines, in order to identify strategies that might be missed by one approach or discipline.