Child wearing yellow and orange garden gloves planting a seedling with green leaves into dark soil. Child wearing yellow and orange garden gloves planting a seedling with green leaves into dark soil.

Our agroforestry project

Preserving biodiversity & strengthening local communities

Agroforestry – what exactly is it? 

Agroforestry is a sustainable land-use practice dating back thousands of years. It combines trees, agricultural crops and, in some cases, livestock within an ecologically balanced system. In the tropical rainforests of Latin America, this practice can be traced back to the way of life of indigenous peoples, who have lived in harmony with the rainforest since prehistoric times without overexploiting it. 

Our project

In order to protect the Madre de Dios region in a sustainable manner, minimise the causes of deforestation and work with local families to develop alternative sources of income, we launched our agroforestry project in December 2023. To this end, we have joined forces with two local agroforestry pioneers: Camino Verde and Fundo Ten Paciencia.

Our aim is to train farmers in agroforestry and sustainable farming practices. This means, for example, that they do not clear the forest, but instead grow their crops in the shade of large trees. If the land has already been cleared, new trees are planted. Farmers taking part in our programme do not grow monocultures and do not use pesticides. Instead, they grow a variety of local crops and also improve the soil using techniques such as Terra Preta. In this way, we also prevent the crops from being affected by disease. Furthermore, these areas remain cooler and more humid, and the soil does not become depleted. This ensures that the land can be used sustainably for agriculture in the long term. 

In the first few months, we have already carried out a successful pilot project with 15 families in Monte Grande and established control and trial plots, which are subject to ongoing scientific monitoring by our partners.

Man in green shirt and hat crouching in field planting seedlings in soil

What makes agroforestry so special?

  • Agroforestry methods protect the soil, animals, plants and homes from extreme weather conditions, whilst also improving water quality.
  • By producing useful goods such as food, timber and medicinal plant products, it generates profits for the local economy.
  • Agroforestry improves the habitat for pollinators. Pollination of plants by animals is an essential part of healthy ecosystems and the basis for our food production, as 85 per cent of flowering plants worldwide depend on it.
  • It is an effective measure against climate change, as these methods help to capture greenhouse gas emissions. 
Young beekeeper in green shirt holds honeycomb frame while experienced beekeeper in pink protective suit observes.
We are also studying the behaviour and production potential of honeybees and wild bees, investigating which plants are of particular interest to the bees, and whether these produce sufficient honey. This knowledge is intended to help local people develop beekeeping as a new source of income. 

So is agroforestry a panacea?

Despite its numerous benefits, agroforestry is not yet practised on a large scale in many regions of the Peruvian rainforest. This is often due to a loss of knowledge, a lack of resources – such as start-up capital, training opportunities and equipment – as well as economic and political challenges. 

Whilst our protected areas in Peru are permanently safeguarded against deforestation, many families from neighbouring settlements still earn their livelihoods through timber, agriculture and livestock farming. As this way of life rapidly depletes the rainforest soil, which is already low in nutrients, the communities living there will, in the long term, need more and more land to survive. Even though our sites are protected, this would ultimately destroy the surrounding areas.

Furthermore, the drought and heat following clear-cutting also have a negative impact on our protected forests. And we are keen to work together with the people of the region and enable the sustainable use of the rainforest.

Why are we, as a forest conservation organisation, supporting this project? This is our way of working with local people, involving them and thus not only ensuring forest conservation but also promoting the long-term, sustainable use of neighbouring land. And you can support us in this too: around 20 per cent of every donation made to us goes directly towards environmental education – which also includes the agroforestry projects. 

We have big plans for the coming years and will continue to keep you involved as this project develops! 

Large group of people posing in front of green
In December 2025, the first ‘Sembraton Amazónica’ took place – a large-scale planting campaign in which more than 70 students, forest conservationists and members of our team worked together to plant saplings of many native species.

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