Fernando Arévalo

Fernando Arévalo Nuñez has been working as a conservation and natural sciences specialist at the Loreto regional office of the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law since 2015.

Fernando is a biologist currently studying for a master’s degree in environmental management at the National University of the Peruvian Amazon. He has experience in managing socio-environmental conflicts in protected areas and native and rural communities. In addition, he has worked on legal security for indigenous peoples’ territories, using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for cartographic analysis. His experience includes Amazonian forest management, natural resource management projects, and participatory rural development with Amazonian communities. With 15 years of experience working with indigenous peoples in various Amazonian regions, he has participated in projects to promote development and food security, as well as in the preparation of management documents for conservation areas. His contribution to the project “Legal Security of Indigenous Territories” is noteworthy, where he exceeded goals and generated documents for the legal security of indigenous territories, with an emphasis on the Amazonian reality.

As a Conservation and Natural Resources Specialist, he currently provides advice and technical assistance to various projects carried out in coordination with the Loreto regional office in the Loreto and Ucayali regions, as well as advice and monitoring for the project Legal Security of Indigenous Territories in Loreto: closing gaps in an inclusive manner as the main activity to meet titling objectives, cartographic analysis, and mapmaking for various projects carried out in coordination with the Loreto regional office, coordinating and assisting activities with local populations, native and peasant communities, federations, and indigenous organizations.

The “Conservation for Peace” project has prevented the Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve from ending up in socio-environmental conflicts with its communities in the buffer zone. It has built the capacity of local residents, authorities, officials, and park rangers in conflict management and has implemented the dialogue and conflict office in the GOREL, which now addresses the region’s problems.

The project “Legal Security of Indigenous Territories: Vindicating Ancestral Rights in Peru” has provided legal security for the territory of 104 native communities from more than 20 indigenous peoples, representing more than 1 million hectares. Parallel to this work, cartographic information on native communities in Loreto was systematized, making it possible to counteract conflicts between native communities and various megaprojects, which had not been identified from the initial stage because the information did not exist on the part of the authorities. At the same time, the graphic database and information on indigenous communities was hosted on two platforms (Visor) so that DISAFILPA information would be available to residents and decision-makers. All these efforts have helped to reduce the titling gap so that indigenous populations feel secure and at ease in their territory with their titles in Loreto.

Contact: farevalo@spda.org.pe