UAC - Sawawo Partnership Focused on Life Planning and Defending Territory from Road Impacts

UAC is working with the Ashéninka community of Sawawo Hito 40 on several activities related to planning and vigilance. Sawawo is located on the illegally constructed Nueva Italia - Puerto Breu highway, which was used by loggers to access Sawawo and the Yurua River region last year. The primary objectives of the partnership is to facilitate participatory planning among community members to develop a written Life Plan to help guide decisions about the future. Meanwhile, we are working with community leaders and its Vigilance Committee to strengthen its ability to protect its territory from illegal logging, narco activity, and land grabs along the road.

We began facilitating the Life Plan in March. Surveys, interviews and meetings were carried out with different community groups to collect information and promote conversations and strategizing about community vision, interests and priorities, with a focus on improving the quality of life, strengthening territorial protection, and developing new sources of income from the sustainable use of its abundant natural resources.

The Life Plan is a tool that helps guide future decision on community development. Members of the neighboring Asháninka community of Apiwtxa - Brazil, located across the border in Acre, Brasil, participated in the meetings and workshops and provided important insight and contributions. The information collected is being analyzed and organized into the written version of the Life Plan to be presented to the community in August. Earlier this year we facilitated a Life Plan for the community of Dulce Gloria, recognizing the need for planning in communities interested in developing sustainably and protecting their resources, culture, and way of life.

We are also responding to Sawawo’s request to strengthen its ability to defend itself from invasions along the newly cleared Nueva Italia - Puerto Breu road. Our support has included providing a drone, boat, motor and other monitoring equipment, conducting workshops to improve skills with the drone and GPS units, conducting patrols along the Amonia River and the road, and constructing a new control post. The post is located at the confluence of the Amonia River and the road. Funding for the post was provided by UAC and the neighboring community of Apiwtxa, located downstream in Brazil.

The overarching objective of the UAC - Sawawo partnership is to provide the training and infrastructure that Sawawo needs to protect itself in the absence of government authorities in this very remote part of the Peruvian Amazon. The new drone will allow Sawawo to view areas not directly along the river or road but within the forest interior where coca farms and other narco-related activities are usually located. Training materials were translated to Ashéninka to facilitate learning among all members. To learn more, please see these articles about the Life Plan, drone training and the drone manuals in the Ashéninka language.