Productive Restoration of Degraded Landscapes

People working in a tropical forest — First calibration tests of 16 soil moisture sensors installed in experimental agroforestry systems. / Photo: Sofia Bedoya

Productive Restoration of Degraded Landscapes

Our Objective

Restoring degraded landscapes in Tambopata by supporting local actors to adopt regenerative practices that recover ecosystems and create sustainable livelihoods. The project promotes nature-positive technologies, strengthens technical capacities, and develops value chains that allow restoration to generate income.
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The project was launched on January 1, 2026 and is currently in the starting phase.

Summary

This project helps restore land in Tambopata that has been damaged by mining, cattle ranching, or unsustainable farming. Working with local land users, we support restoration approaches that both bring forests back and create income for families. These approaches improve soil health, recover native plants and wildlife, and produce goods and services that can be sold in local and regional markets. Local knowledge and community priorities guide every step, making restoration more effective and more likely to last. To support these efforts, the project helps establish small processing centers for regenerative products and develops standards that improve quality and market access. We are also exploring secure and transparent ways to sell responsibly mined gold, so that revenues can support restoration instead of driving further degradation. Together, these actions explore how restoration can protect nature, strengthen livelihoods, and help build a future where communities manage healthy, multifunctional landscapes.

Partners: Asociación para la Investigación y Desarrollo Integral (AIDER), CITEproductivo Madre de Dios, Asociación de Agricultores Ecológicos de Madre de Dios, Pure Earth, Universidad Nacional Amazónica de Madre de Dios (UNAMAD), CANDELA, Asociación Inkaterra, Red de Mujeres MAPE Madre de Dios, Asociación mineros artesanales formalizados de la Asociación Tauro Fátima (AMATAF)

Project Connections

Part of the topic

Nature Protection that benefits people
Nature Protection that benefits people
Part of the solutionscape

Maintaining multifunctional landscapes in a tropical forest frontier

Timeline

From degradation to regeneration: Wyss Academy and Pure Earth to restore mining-affected landscapes in Tambopata

Project Update May 7, 2026

Madre de Dios is a diverse and complex territory, home to unique biodiversity, Indigenous communities, and an economy shaped by extractive activities that represent major challenges for forest conservation and for the well-being of the people who depend on these forests and landscapes. In Tambopata, this coexistence is clearly reflected in the landscape and in everyday life: forests are retreating in areas that were once covered by vegetation, while mercury, widely used in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), leaves a silent footprint on water, soil, and people’s health.ASM, one of the region’s main income-generating activities, is also associated with serious environmental and public health concerns. On the one hand, it accounts for nearly 50% of the regional GDP and supports more than 46,000 people. On the other, it is linked to deforestation and mercury pollution with cumulative impacts. In this context, the response cannot be simplistic. It is not only about prohibition, but about enabling real transitions toward more responsible and fair practices capable of restoring degraded areas, bringing life back to the soil, and opening economic alternatives that can coexist with the forest.It is within this complexity that Pure Earth Peru and the Wyss Academy for Nature have signed an agreement to design productive restoration models that reduce the impacts of mercury on the environment and human health, while also generating new income opportunities for families who depend on ASM.

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