Cordillera Azul Management

The Park

CIMA has been active in Cordillera Azul National Park since 2002. CIMA is responsible for the daily management of the Park over a period of 20 years (2008-2028). Our commitment is:

• To conserve the natural resources and richness of the Park and to recuperate its degraded areas.
• To stimulate (inter)national research that contributes the Management of the Park
• To assist local communities in developing tourist attractions that correspond with the natural habitat of the Park
• To further spatial planning in designated areas of the Buffer Zone
• To help local communities improving their standard of living via the benefits of conserving the Park
• To assure long-term funding for the management of the Park

The Park’s management has resulted in:

• The Park being ranked as the protected area with one of the best conservation statistics in the country
• The Park having a deforestation rate of ‘0’thus preventing 6500 hectares of deforestation per year
• The Park offering important ecosystem services to more than 300,000 people who are living in 445 villages and neighboring communities: quality and quantity of water, air, ground, climate stability as well as food security
• The Park contributing to climate change mitigation via the reduction of carbon emissions of 1,5 MT CO2  eq annually (10 Mt CO2 eq as of now) with the Project REDD+

The Buffer zone

The Buffer Zone serves to reduce the impact of human activities to the Park. Actively engaging neighboring communities in sustainable initiatives and in the daily affairs of the Park is leading to a more sustainable development of the area as a whole. The Buffer Zone covers an area of 23 000 km² and has over 300,000 inhabitants who live in 443 different villages and communities.
CIMA divides the Buffer Zone in rings with various levels of involvement. CIMA concentrates outreach efforts in the communities closest to the Park, where it is most urgent to stop deforestation and to establish more forest friendly practices.

The Buffer Zone’s management has resulted in:

• Improvement of agroforestry plots
• Recovery of degraded areas
• 17 local manufacturers benefitting from the  program: Organizational Empowerment Technical Productivity
• 67 villages and communities (more than 30,000 people) benefitting from different ongoing programs: FOCAL, environmental education in local schools, zoning, developing coexistence rules with the local communities, action plans to improve quality of life, Azul Agreements regarding conservation and local conservation initiatives