A Regenera Guardian is born

Featured image: Ronald Gonzales, fierce defender of the Mishquiyacu forests.

In the heart of the Salkantay landscape in Cusco, the rural community of Mishquiyacu-Urpaypuquio is committed to the conservation of its Andean forests, community tourism and building a life plan that will allow it to join Regenera as a new guardian.

“Since I was very young, I have had the dream of creating an alternative tourist route to Machu Picchu that goes through the forests of my community… Before, when I was a child, the adults planted in these forests, they cut down trees, but we did not have the power to change things. That is why I studied tourism, and today as an adult and member of the board, I can help to take better advantage of this valuable resource and thus benefit my community.” Thus, Ronald Gonzales Zúñiga, secretary of the Mishquiyacu-Urpaypuquio community, defines his commitment to help his fellow villagers achieve a better future through conservation and well-managed tourism.

Illpay forest, protected by the community as a private conservation area (PCA).

To get to Mishquiyacu you have to leave the city of Cusco and head west, along the road that connects the capital of the Incas with the city of Apurimac, until you reach Limatambo, a small road town, surrounded by steep mountains that form a narrow and warm valley. The ascent to the community is made between yellow huaranhuay flowers, twisted molles and extensive avocado fields, the star crop of these payments.

From the community house you can see the dense forest of Illpay, the jewel that crowns the mountains that make up the upper part of Mishquiyacu. In 2021, thanks to the support of the Amazon Basin Conservation Association (ACCA), and the community’s firm decision to conserve its natural heritage, the State recognized a private conservation area (PCA) to protect its Andean forests, in which precious high Andean species such as the chachacomo and the tasta are conserved, as well as a great diversity of birds and mammals in vulnerable situations such as the Andean puma and the pajonal cat.

Chachacomo and tasta forests are its main conservation target with Regenera.

With 1,797 hectares, the Mishquiyacu ACP is the fourth largest in Cusco, a region with more than 30,000 hectares protected under this modality. “Our ACP benefits us a lot. We now know how important it is to take care of our forests, we now know how important it is not to burn, not to cut down, to avoid any abuse, because the forests represent our life. Thanks to them we can breathe clean air,” says Atilio Valer Zamalloa, president of the community.

“Thanks to our ACP, we can now be part of Regenera, and that will bring us income to continue conserving and taking better care of the forest from fires, logging and overgrazing, which are the main problems we have,” he says. In addition, the community members of Mishquiyacu have signed an agreement with Explorandes, one of the most prestigious tourism companies in Peru, with more than four decades of experience in high mountain and rural community-based tourism.

“We are currently working with the company Explorandes, promoting a new route to Machu Picchu, an alternative to the traditional roads, which many do not know, but we are already working on it, and several groups are passing through here. In this way we can offer a tourist product, and thus have an income and our community can have a sustainable social development over time,” says Atilio Valer.

Explorandes, in turn a Regenera partner, has brought the community closer to the initiative, and the community has initiated the process to become part of the Guardian network, with the objective of reinforcing the conservation of its high Andean forest. To this end, and with the support of the technical partner sePerú, they have begun to draw up their life plan, a long-term document that outlines the path the community wishes to follow to achieve its sustainable development objectives.

A community member from Mishquiyacu participates in the workshop for the construction of the tourism plan.

Jans Huayca, a specialist associated with Regenera, is working with the community to develop their tourism plan, and comments that “being part of the network will give them the possibility of obtaining economic income for the conservation of their forests, and this income will not only have an impact on monitoring and strengthening their administrative and conservation capacities, but will also strengthen their community organization.”

The community members of Mishquiyacu are betting on a different future, as Ronal Gamarra assures us: “We want to leave a legacy for our children, so that 20 years from now they will be forest guides, conservationists, so that our resources are well protected. We expect to become Guardians of Regenera, and continue working, because it gives us an economic benefit while protecting the forest. This helps us to realize that our forests have an added value for the world and for us as community members. It is one more light on the path, in the intention that we have set as our north to conserve our territory.“