Team of volunteers celebrating a tree-planting initiative in a forest, holding up seedlings with dirt-covered roots. Team of volunteers celebrating a tree-planting initiative in a forest, holding up seedlings with dirt-covered roots.

Agroforestry

Developing sustainable practices together with local communities

What is agroforestry?

Agroforestry is a sustainable land use practice that is thousands of years old. It combines trees, agricultural crops, and sometimes livestock in an ecologically balanced system. In the tropical rainforests of Latin America, this practice can be traced back to the ways Indigenous Peoples have lived in and cared for the rainforest for generations, without over-exploiting its resources..

Greener farming, stronger communities: our agroforestry project

In order to sustainably protect the Madre de Dios region, where our land is located, minimize the causes of deforestation, and develop alternative sources of income together with the families, we launched our agroforestry project in December 2023. We have teamed up with two local agroforestry pioneers: Camino Verde and Fundo Ten Paciencia.

Our aim is to train farmers in agroforestry and sustainable farming practices. Instead of clearing the forest, farmers grow crops beneath the shade of large trees. Where land has already been cleared, they plant new trees. Farmers in our program don't grow monocultures or use pesticides. Instead, they grow a wide variety of local crops and improve soil health using techniques such as Terra Preta. This diverse approach helps reduce the spread of plant diseases while keeping the soil cooler and more humid. The trees also help prevent nutrients from leaching out of the soil, allowing the land to remain productive for agriculture over the long term.

In recent months, we've carried out a successful pilot project with 15 families in Monte Grande. Together with our partners, we set up control and trial plots that are being scientifically monitored over the long term. We're also studying the behaviour and production potential of honey bees and wild bees, with the goal of providing local families with bee colonies in the future.

Two people examine and document plants in a vegetable field. One wears a cowboy hat and holds a clipboard while taking notes.
We've planted many young açai palms and coffee plants in our trial areas.

Why we support agroforestry

Despite its clear benefits, agroforestry is not yet widely practiced across the Peruvian Amazon. This is often due to a loss of traditional knowledge, political and economic barriers, and a lack of critical resources, such as initial funding, equipment, and formal training.

While our protected reserves are permanently safe from deforestation, many families in neighbouring communities still depend on logging, conventional agriculture, and cattle ranching for their livelihoods. Because these practices rapidly exhaust the Amazon’s nutrient-poor soil, farmers are forced to clear more land over time to survive. Left unaddressed, this cycle threatens to destroy the surrounding ecosystems, while the heat and drought caused by nearby clear-cutting directly impact our protected forests.

Working alongside local communities to enable sustainable land use is essential to breaking this cycle. Supporting agroforestry allows us to engage directly with local families, ensuring the safety of our reserves while building long-term environmental and economic resilience across the region.

We have ambitious plans for the coming years and look forward to scaling this vital initiative.

Young man showing beekeepers a honeycomb frame outdoors with green forest backdrop.
Bruno, one of our Forest Guardians and a bee expert, gives us an update on our bee pollination project.
Beekeeper holds a honeycomb frame covered with hundreds of honeybees clustered on hexagonal cells.
We check which plants are particularly interesting for the bees and if they're producing enough honey. This knowledge helps the locals to develop beekeeping as a new source of income.

Why Agroforestry works: key benefits

  • Soil & ecosystem protection
    Agroforestry safeguards soil, wildlife, native plants, and homes from extreme weather while improving local water quality.
  • Economic development
    By yielding diverse, marketable yields, such as food crops, timber, and medicinal plants, agroforestry boosts local livelihoods and drives sustainable economic growth.
  • Pollinator & biodiversity support
    Agroforestry restores vital habitats for pollinators, supporting 85% of global flowering plants that rely on animal pollination to maintain healthy ecosystems and food security.
  • Climate action & carbon storage
    This approach actively combats climate change by capturing carbon dioxide and sequestering greenhouse gas emissions directly in the soil and vegetation.

Agroforesters at work


Man in green shirt and straw hat planting a sapling in soil with lush greenery in background.
Coffee plants thrive in agroforestry systems, where they grow exceptionally well in the shade of tall trees.
Woman in khaki work clothing planting a seedling in soil at a green garden site.
Everyone gets their hands dirty helping with the project.
Person in green shirt measuring plant growth with measuring tape in vegetable garden outdoors
The plants in our trial area are regularly measured and tested. This helps us understand which plants grow best in different environments.

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