Asheninka Native Community of Onconashari Receives Official Recognition of Its Community Forest Surveillance and Control Committee
The Asheninka Native Community of Onconashari receives the official recognition of its Community Forest and Wildlife Control Committee
Pucallpa, September 1, 2025. – On August 26, the Asheninka Native Community of Onconashari obtained the official recognition of its Community Forest Surveillance and Control Committee (CVCFC), through Directoral Resolution No. 123-2025-GRU-GGR-GRFFS-SOFFSA, issued by the Regional Forestry and Wildlife Management Office of the Regional Government of Ucayali.
This recognition accredits the members of its committee as Forest and Wildlife Custodians, enabling them to carry out monitoring, surveillance, and control of forest and wildlife resources within their titled territory, located in the Yurua district, Atalaya province.
With this, the members of Onconashari’s CVCFC are authorized to report acts of illegal logging and to alert authorities about any threats to biodiversity, working in coordination with the competent institutions.
“This allows us, as the forestry authority, to officially accredit their Community Forest Surveillance and Control Committee. In this way, the Native Community of Onconashari—through its members and the committee president—becomes a key ally in safeguarding its territory from third-party actions that harm forest heritage,” stated Alex Saldaña, Director of the Forestry and Wildlife Operational Office (SOFFSA).
For his part, Robinson Pascual, head of the community, highlighted the importance of the recognition as a tool to strengthen territorial defense:
“It is important to protect our territory because sometimes neighbors do not respect the boundaries. With this recognition we will be able to safeguard it better.”
This process was supported technically by Upper Amazon Conservancy, as part of its work to strengthen community-based surveillance and defend Indigenous territories in the region.
With this step, the Native Community of Onconashari joins the network of officially recognized Indigenous CVCFCs in Ucayali, reaffirming the central role of Indigenous peoples in conserving the Amazon and defending their collective rights over ancestral territories.
