Monthly Archives: November 2022

La Libertad Dry Forest Project continues to supply improved cookstoves for families in Pacasmayo. The improved cookstoves use less fuelwood than traditional open fires and reduce the need to cut down dry forest trees. The project delivered the kits to households in July and in August ten cookstoves were installed in households from San Demetrio and Pueblo Nuevo.  A local mason installed the cookstoves.

This year the project also gave guinea pigs to beneficiary households to promote micro-livestock breeding. This new initiative hopes to address food security in rural areas. Guinea pigs are not only a source of animal protein but also their manure can fertilize agriculture fields and kitchen gardens. In traditional Peruvian households, the rearing environment for small animals is usually the kitchen, where the heat source protects guinea pigs from sudden temperature changes.

La Libertad Dry Forest Project continues to raise environmental awareness in schools and churches. This year it has expanded its education talks and garden activities to three schools and churches, including Calvary Chapel. The project inspires younger generations to become environmental ambassadors, helping them to reconnect with nature and enhancing conservation knowledge.  Calvary Chapel, led by Pastor Renzo Plasencia Moscoso, is located in Pacasmayo.  Since April, the project has conducted over 22 workshops and activities with adults and children of the Calvary Chapel congregation. Talks have included a variety of topics such as the state of the planet and its biodiversity, responsible consumption and sustainable development of the environment, solid waste, the importance of the dry forest, and ecological gardens.  In July, the church started to create its garden called the El Buen Fruto [The Good Fruit]. Environmental leaders learned practical techniques such as home irrigation, composting, and planting vegetables. They prepared the soil, levelled and cleaned the terrain, and they have begun creating an interpretation centre.

Agroforestry is an approach that combines agriculture with trees on the same piece of land. Planting trees on farms can give farmers healthier soil and higher yields – not to mention creating vital homes for wildlife.  La Libertad Dry Forest Project in Pacasmayo promotes agroforestry with local farmers by helping them combine fruit trees with existing crops. This approach aims to restore degraded agricultural land and reduce soil erosion. Over time, it also helps farmers to enhance crop production and generate alternate income from the sale of the fruit. In June, fruit tree species, such as apple, orange, mango, Japanese plum, and guaba, were produced in the local nursery in San Pedro de Lloc.  In July, the project gave local farmers sixty agroforestry tree seedlings to plant on their land. The project will irrigate and monitor these trees over time.  In addition to these agroforestry practices, the project has been helping farmers to improve crop production in other ways. In July, the La Libertad Dry Forest project held a workshop for rice producers in Santander.  Rice is an important staple crop in the area.   These workshops help to increase farmers’ knowledge of how to improve rice crop production and quality.