Yurúa Communal Conservation Concession Now Listed as an OECM on Protected Planet

The territory managed by the Yurúa Communal Conservation Association (ACC-Yurúa), comprising nine Indigenous communities, is listed on the global Protected Planet platform as an Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measure (OECM), with a reported area of approximately 45,669 hectares.

An aerial view of the conservation concession managed by ACC-Yurúa in the Yurúa River basin, Ucayali.

The Yurúa Communal Conservation Concession, located in Ucayali, Peru, is now listed as an OECM on Protected Planet, a global platform that provides information on protected areas and other conserved areas.

The site is identified by Site ID 555890374, with a reported area of 456.69 km² — approximately 45,669 hectares —, under the classification Other effective area-based conservation measures.

This milestone builds on more than a decade of conservation and territorial management efforts led by ACC Yurúa, an organization comprising Indigenous communities of the Asháninka, Yaminahua, Amahuaca, and Yanesha peoples of the Yurúa River basin.

What does it mean to be an OECM?

OECMs are areas that, although located outside protected area systems, effectively contribute to the long-term conservation of biodiversity.

This designation helps identify and bring visibility to territories where different forms of governance and management deliver long-term conservation outcomes.

In Yurúa, the area encompasses more than 45,000 hectares of Amazonian forest along the Peru-Brazil border, near the Murunahua Indigenous Reserve and Alto Purús National Park. Its recognition as an OECM acknowledges the territory’s contribution to biodiversity conservation within the broader Amazonian landscape.

Location of the Yurúa Communal Conservation Concession and surrounding Indigenous communities along the Peru-Brazil border.

From the national process to international listing

The process dates back to 2011, with efforts to strengthen local organization and territorial management. ACC Yurúa was subsequently established, and in 2019, the conservation concession was granted.

Since then, the organization has carried out territorial management and surveillance, biodiversity monitoring, boundary signage, and forest protection activities, contributing to the effective conservation of the territory. In May 2025, its Management Declaration (DEMA) was approved, followed by further work to prepare and evaluate the proposal for its recognition as an OECM

Installation of boundary signage in the Yurúa Communal Conservation Concession as part of efforts to manage and protect the territory.

On July 30, 2026, Peru’s Ministry of the Environment (MINAM), in its capacity as Peru’s National Focal Point for the Convention on Biological Diversity, formally submitted the relevant information to the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and requested its inclusion as an OECM on Protected Planet and in the corresponding global database.

As part of the evaluation process, representatives of the Ministry of the Environment (MINAM), including Edgardo Marthans, Director of Ecosystem and Species Conservation, and Shaleyla Jerez, conducted a technical visit to the concession together with ACC Yurúa representatives to verify compliance with the criteria established for its recognition as an OECM.

Technical visit by Peru’s Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) to the Yurúa Communal Conservation Concession as part of the process to verify the criteria for its recognition as an OECM.

The area is now listed as an OECM on Protected Planet, marking a new milestone for conservation in Yurúa.

Protected Planet listing for the Yurúa Communal Conservation Concession as an Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measure (OECM). Site ID: 555890374; reported area: 456.69 km².

The process received support from the Bosques Amazónicos ASL2 Project, implemented by Peru’s Ministry of the Environment (MINAM), with Profonanpe as its operational partner. The project contributed to the activities carried out toward the concession’s recognition as an OECM. Upper Amazon Conservancy (UAC) provided technical and logistical support to ACC Yurúa, in coordination with the Association of Native Communities for the Integral Development of Yurúa Yono Sharakoiai (ACONADIYSH).

As part of ongoing efforts, the Bosques Amazónicos ASL2 Project, together with UAC and ACC Yurúa, will support the design and implementation of an Early Warning System (EWS) aimed at strengthening the management of the concession in response to risks and threats to its biodiversity, in coordination with the relevant authorities and local organizations.

A new milestone for conservation in Yurúa

Its recognition as an OECM raises national and international visibility of this territory’s contribution to Amazonian biodiversity conservation and adds to the progress achieved through more than a decade of territorial management.

For ACC Yurúa, the work continues: sustaining effective conservation across the area while strengthening territorial surveillance and management alongside its member communities.