PLAN COLOMBO-PERUANO

Background and Objetives

Under the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, signed in 1979, the Governments of Colombia and Peru agreed to give the maximum priority and dynamism to an Amazon cooperation policy oriented towards the establishment of the forms and mechanisms best suited to the particular requirements for the integral development of their respective Amazonian territories, thus ensuring their full incorporation into the national economies. Subsequently, in April of 1988, the Presidents of Colombia and Peru met in the town of San Antonio, on the Amazon River, and signed a Joint Declaration agreeing to a Bilateral Action Plan to carry out the Plan for the Integral Development of the Putumayo River Basin, to be executed within the framework of the Joint Committee for the Colombian-Peruvian Amazon Cooperation Treaty. Their ministries of foreign affairs were asked to jointly negotiate financial support from international organizations, especially the Organization of American States.

The first meeting of the Joint Committee took place in August 1988 in Leticia, Colombia, capital of Amazonas Department. In this meeting, the terms of reference for the drafting of the Plan for the Integral Development of the Putumayo River Basin (PPCP) were approved, with the following global objectives:

a) To bring about integral and sustainable development in the region.

b) To improve the standard of living of the population.

c) To create a model of sustainable development.

d) To strengthen the present scientific and technological capacity to permit the generation of new alternatives for the use and management of natural resources.

e) To pay special attention to the indigenous communities on habitat improvement, land tenure, basic social services, environmental sanitation, and protection of their fundamental rights, particularly their social and cultural integrity.

f) To incorporate the area fully into economic and production activities of Colombia and Peru.

g) To make the PPCP an instrument for the promotion, implementation and management of regional development within the policies of the two countries, with the participation of the local economic agents and population.

The Plan for the Integral Development of the Putumayo River Basin covers an area of about 160,500 km² on the border between Peru and Colombia, in the Amazon Basin. The Colombian zone includes the departments of Putumayo and Amazonas and runs from Leticia, past the Putumayo River, and up to the Caquetá River on the North. The Peruvian zone comprises northern Loreto Province and parts of the provinces of Maynas and Ramon Castilla and involves mainly towns on the banks of the Putumayo, Napo, Yaraví, and Amazon,

The estimated population in 1995 was 143,493, with an average density of 0.87 per km² About 21% of the total is indigenous, settled mostly along the Amazon, Putumayo, Napo and Caquetá. The main towns are Leticia on the Amazon and Puerto Leguízamo on the Putumayo, both in Colombia. In Peru, Pevas and Caballococha are the largest towns.

The PPCP region is peripheral and marginal to the economies and productive activities of Colombia and Peru. Nevertheless, it has important natural forest resources and native species that could be used to advantage, and an extensive network of rivers with a good fishery potential. Most of the land, though far from all, is unsuitable for agriculture. The region is isolated from the rest of the countries, in the absence of means of communication and transport. The population is mainly scattered. Social services are limited because of the isolation, the limited population, the small size of the towns, and a regional and local administrative structure, the lack of which heretofore have discouraged the allocation of funds for the installation of social infrastructure. Living conditions are seriously affected by the lack and shortcomings of housing, nutrition, health, and education, the levels of which are all very low.

PLAN PARA EL DESARROLLO INTEGRAL INTEGRAL DE LA CUENCA DEL RÍO PUTUMAYO - Infraestructura Física (234 KB)

The indigenous population belongs to several language families, each with its own cultural patterns. The communities support themselves by making skillful and diversified use of the natural resources of the area. To the extent that they still preserve the basic elements of their traditional culture, they ensure their survival and the conservation of their fragile ecological environment.

Programs and Projects

The following section describes briefly the five programs in the PPCP, including the projects that make them up, their costs, and their time frames.

Environment Program

This program combines environmental protection with productive and social development. The general objective is to promote the sustainable use of natural resources by creating and disseminating the most appropriate means for the improvement, management, and conservation of protected natural areas and forests. In this way, the program seeks to solve the environmental problems typical of the area (the deterioration of the regional ecosystem, the breakdown of the traditional production system, and indiscriminate deforestation, among others) through an integral proposal of conservation and development, with particular attention to protected natural areas, the consolidation of buffer zones, and alternatives for forest management and protection based on environmental education and research projects. One of the main strategies is to promote and support the active participation of the beneficiaries.

The protective activities will concentrate on selected areas and on buffer zones, the environmental education will be addressed to the entire population of about 100,000 and the research will be carried out both in areas now used for production and in the selected areas through studies of environmental zoning. The execution period is estimated at five years.

The projects in the Environment Program are the following:

· Integral and Sustainable Management of Forest in Tarapacá and Flor de Agosto.
· Environmental Education
· Amacayaca-Yaguas/La Paya-Güeppi Natural Parks

Productive Activities Program

The PPCP area is faced with the need to reverse a series of misfortunes related to production, such as environmental deterioration due to haphazard deforestation; soil erosion, compaction, and leaching caused by over- exploitation; low agricultural productivity; and inadequate use of fishing resources because of lack of fishery infrastructure, training, inputs, and credit, among other reasons.

The program conceived in response to this problem has two prongs. On one hand, it concentrates agricultural production in currently settled areas and limits deforestation through efficient and profitable productive systems suitable to the tropical ecosystem, so as to improve family income and the local diet. Further, it promotes the rationalization of fishing through research, training, the management and development of ornamental fisheries, fish farming, and other activities.

The first stage of the Program consist of two projects:

· Wildlife Management
· Integral Fisheries Management, which, in turn, includes the following subprojects:

- Edible and Ornamental Fish
- Fish Farming
- Fisheries Management and Development
- Education

Social Development and Infrastructure Program

The actions of the Plan concerned with resource management and planning, especially those in the Environment and Productive Activity programs, can only be implemented effectively if they are complemented by basic actions to meet social needs and provide economic infrastructure.

The regional diagnosis found that among the most serious problems in the region are health and sanitation. The health problems call for high priority and demand special treatment because they are concerned with the indigenous communities.

The low educational level in the region, which is due to the lack of schools, is another deficiency that needs to be corrected. Here again, special treatment will be required in the case of the indigenous population: the curricula will have to be adapted through refresher courses and training programs for teachers.

One cost that bears heavily on health and educational services is caused by the scarcity of transport infrastructure, which also affects the marketing of essential goods. Major support is therefore necessary to provide an infrastructure that can serve as a foundation for the other programs in the Development Plan.

In these circumstances, the Program seeks to change the conditions that cause health problems by coordinating health administration with the other programs; to preserve the culture of the social groups and indigenous peoples living in the region; and to solve the sanitation and education problems in a manner appropriate to the conditions of the region, including considerable participation by communities trained in the management and use of water and in improving the quality of education in the PPCP region.

Marketing Program

This Program aims at fully incorporating the PPCP region into the economic and productive activity of Colombia and Peru by developing and strengthening commercial activities along the Putumayo River. For this purpose it will attempt to facilitate and improve access to existing sources of information, so as to ensure the reduction of risk and further the development of trade.

The Program includes two projects:

· Creation of the Office for Trade and Investment Promotion, composed of Commercial Information System, Training, and Dissemination

· Development and Promotion of Ecotourism

Institutional Management and Organization Program

Under this Program, management units will be organized to execute the PPCP programs and projects properly. Among their main functions are (1) obtaining and administering funds for each project, (2) maintaining constant coordination with national and international financial institutions and agencies, (3) maintaining coordination with the co-executing institutions involved in each project, and (4) maintaining coordination with the public and private institutions concerned with the socioeconomic development of the PPCP region.

The Program is composed of a single project: Institutional Management and Organization, which has the following components: Coordination and Financing; Operations; Monitoring; and Publications and Other Activities.

The total cost of the Program amounts to US$ 900,000, of which US$ 450,000 is for investments and US$ 450,000 for operating costs, over a period of five years.

INVERSIONES Y FINANCIAMIENTO DE LOS PROYECTOS BINACIONALES (US$)

Programas y Proyectos		Costo Total	Estudios	Inversiones	Gastos Operativos	Recursos Externos	FINANCIAMENTO
							Aporte Nacional			Aporte Communidad
							Total	Colombia	Perú
I.	Programa Medio Ambiente	13.531.600	333.200	5.326.500	7.871.900	6.544.700	6.751.900	2.845.800	3.906.100	235.000
1.	Proyecto de Educación Ambiental	267.400	12.200	255 200		213.900	53.500	26.500	27.000
2.	Proyecto Manejo Integral y Sostenible de Bosques	2.427.900	27000	734.000	1.666900	1.699.500	698.400	395.300	303.100	30.000
3.	Proyecto Parques Naturales/Nacionales	10.836.300	294.000	4 337.300	6.205.000	4.631.300	6.000-.000	2.424.000	3 576.000	205.000
II.	Programa Actividades Productivas	14.086.900	267.300	6.549.000	7.270.600	7.948.600	5.948.300	2.929.169	3.019.131	190.000
4.	Proyecto Manejo de la Fauna Silvestre	3.365.700	99000	2750.100	516.600	2.524.000	786.700	384.500	402.200	55.000
5.	Proyecto Manejo Integral de Pesca	10.721.200	168.300	3.798 900	6.754 000	5.424 600	5.161.600	2.544.669	2.616.931	135.000
III.	Programa Desarrollo Social e Infraestructura	57.474.500	1.069.400	51.524.400	4.880.700	37.552.300	17.068.700	7.695.280	9.373.420	2.853.500
6.	Proyecto Atención Integral Comunid. Indig./Nativas	5.022.700	345 600	3 868 500	808.600	3.515900	1 129.600	655 168	474.432	377.200
7	Proyecto Integral de Salud	2.924.600	32.500	1 239600	1 652.500	1 844 000	1 080 600	561912	518688
8.	Proyecto Saneamiento Ambiental	29.493.000	190.500	26.882 900	2.419.600	19.170.400	8.848.000	3.981.600	4 866.400	1 474.600
9.	Proyecto educación	20.034.200	500.800	19 533.400		13.022.000	6.010.500	2 496 600	3.513900	1.001.700
IV.	Programa de Comercialización	1.903.200	9.000	1.014.000	880.200	1.131.000	697.200	360.200	337.000	75.000
10.	Proyecto de Comercialización	1.903.200	9.000	1014.000	880.200	1 131.000	697.200	360 200	337 000	75.000
V.	Programa de Organizac. y Gestión Institucional	900.000	75.000	375.000	450.000	450.000	450.000	250.000	200.00
11.	Proyecto de organización y gestión Institucional	900.000	75.000	375.000	450.000	450.000	450.000	25000	200.00
	TOTAL	87.896.200	1.753.900	64.788.900	21.353.400	53.626.600	30.916.100	14.080.449	16.835.651	3.353.500