Conservation of the Alto Mayo landscape without gender violence

In Peru’s Alto Mayo, Conservation International Peru worked with Nuwas forest women of the Shampuyacu community to prevent and respond to GBV under the Resilient, Inclusive, and Sustainable Environments (RISE) grants challenge to support their safe engage,emt in natural resource conservation and sustainable economic activities, contributing to improved social and environmental outcomes. Five years ago, at the request of the Awajún women in the community of Shampuyacu, CI helped to negotiate for nine hectares of land to be set aside for 70 Indigenous women to grow native and medicinal plants. Referred to as the “Nuwas Forest” (Nuwas means woman in Awajún), it has become an important space for maintaining ancestral knowledge and passing on traditions, while providing a safe space for women to connect and share. It has also allowed the women to generate their own income through the production of handicrafts, cassava, and herbal teas made using medicinal plants and their traditional knowledge. The goal of this project was to contribute to a shift in social norms and beliefs about women’s and men’s standing in society, the sanctioning of violence, and community processes for dealing with these incidents. The project addressed both the proximate and systemic drivers of GBV to begin shifting social norms.