Sumaq Allpa - Beautiful Land Project

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Location: Andes Highlands, Cusco Region, Peru.
Project area: 12,000 ha.
Focus: Sustainable afforestation & reforestation, carbon removal, community development, biodiversity enhancement in the Andes highlands with local rural communities.
Certification: 

- Carbon:VERRA VCS (VM0047) & CCB.

- Biodiversity: Pilot Biodiversity Credits with RESTORE.
VERRA Registry: https://registry.verra.org/app/projectDetail/VCS/5360

Sumaq Allpa (Quechua: “beautiful land”) is a large-scale, community-based afforestation & reforestation and sustainable development initiative in the high Andes of Cusco, with scale up potential to neighbouring regions. 

Why Sumaq Allpa?
The high Andes of Cusco form part of the Puna ecoregion, a cold, windswept mountain landscape between ~3,800 and 4,200 m a.s.l., with around 700 mm of rainfall per year and naturally thin, fragile soils. Today, most of this land is no (longer) native forest, but a mosaic of degraded high-Andean grasslands (pajonal andino) and shrublands, with only small relic patches of Polylepis forest and wetlands remaining. In the Sumaq Allpa area, current land cover is roughly 49% grasslands, 48% shrublands, ~1.5% small forest relics and ~1–2% wetlands.

National erosion mapping by Peru's Ministry of Environment (MINAM) and National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI) shows that close to 90% of the Andean region is under moderate to severe erosion, and Sumaq Allpa falls squarely in these categories. Centuries of overgrazing, recurrent burning, and fuelwood extraction have turned once-deep, fertile soils into compacted, nutrient-poor, almost impermeable substrates. Without intervention, these landscapes would remain low-productivity, degrading pastures with declining biodiversity and high exposure to climate risks such as glacier retreat, droughts and "heladas" (frost).

Sumaq Allpa responds to this context as a landscape rehabilitation and community development programme. It combines land rehabilitation through sustainable pine forestry plantations combined with mushroom cultivation, and reforestation with native species for relic forests restoration to stabilise soils, rebuild biodiversity and water regulation functions, and create resilient rural economies for dozens of high-Andean communities.

Sumaq Allpa applies a holistic, science-based NBS approach structured around four integrated pillars.

Afforestation & reforestation on degraded lands

• Establishing mixed forestry systems with ~90% Radiata Pine (Pinus radiata) and a minimum of 10% native high-Andean trees such as Queñual (Polylepis spp.) and cachacomo (Escallonia resinosa), on non-forest land that has been grassland/shrubland for at least 10 years, in line with Verra ARR eligibility criteria.
   
• Radiata pine is used as a structural species: its shallow, widely spreading root system binds topsoil, reduces surface erosion and small landslides, and helps protect fragile slopes and communal infrastructure.

• The share of native polylepis and escallonia resinosa is planned to increase to 30% through a biodiversity credits pilot with RESTORE Biodiversity Fund through a Biodiversity MERESE sub-project.   
   

Landscape mosaic, not monoculture

• At community level, the project uses a mosaic design that combines: pine stands on the most degraded slopes; native restoration strips and patches (e.g. Polylepis and other natives) along streams, springs and around wetlands; and strictly conserved “no-go” areas where existing native vegetation and wetlands are maintained and reinforced.
   
• Remnant native forests, Polylepis patches and bofedales within community lands are mapped, excluded from planting and treated as conservation zones.
   

Nurseries & mycorrhiza

• Decentralised community nurseries produce high-quality pine and native seedlings using local genetic material for Polylepis and other species.
   
• Seedlings are inoculated with ectomycorrhizal fungi that improve nutrient uptake, soil structure and biodiversity, while also producing edible mushrooms as a non-timber forest product and early income stream for communities.
   

Long-term, selective forest management

• Forestry systems are designed for perpetual, community-based management with selective harvesting (no clear-cutting) to maintain structural heterogeneity and long-term yields of timber and non-timber products.
   

Fire prevention & risk reduction

• By eliminating uncontrolled burning, establishing firebreaks and reducing overgrazing through agreed rules and fencing, the project lowers fire frequency and intensity while stabilising slopes and moderating extreme winds and frost events.
   

Timber & non-timber products

• Development of community-managed timber value chains under sustainable harvesting regimes.
   
• Non-timber forest products such as edible mushrooms, pine resine and other potential NTFPs, create diversified, climate-resilient income streams.
   

Agroforestry & livestock integration

• Integration of sustainable livestock and small animal systems (e.g. cuy) and improved pasture management, reducing pressure on degraded grasslands and supporting food security.
   

Capacity building & market access

• Training in silviculture, product development, cooperative management, and market linkages, with a focus on young people and vulnerable groups, to strengthen local entrepreneurship and governance.
   

High-integrity carbon removals

• Average carbon removals estimated at c.140,000 tCO₂e per year over 40 years, for a total of c.5.6 million tCO₂e, certified under Verra’s VM0047 ARR methodology (project VCS 5360).
   

Safeguards and additionality

• Multi-temporal satellite analyses confirm that planting polygons have not been forest or plantation for at least 10 years  and lie outside protected areas and officially designated fragile ecosystems or archeological sensitive areas or cultural sites.
   

Revenue sharing & co-financing

• Carbon revenues are shared between investors, developer and communities, with a portion earmarked for long-term sustainable forest management, project operation, local development and conservation actions during the whole project duration, ensuring permanence.
   
• Parallel biodiversity-finance initiatives with the Regional Government of Cusco and RESTORE aim to increase the native component in priority areas (e.g. towards c.30% natives in co-financed restoration mosaics) and pilot biodiversity credits alongside carbon credits.
   

Nature co-benefits

• Reforestation and native restoration improve soil structure, water infiltration and retention, buffering communities against droughts, frost and landslides while enhancing habitat quality for native flora and fauna.
   

Inclusive decision-making

• Communities are partners, not just beneficiaries. Project activities, planting areas and benefit-sharing arrangements are co-designed with communal authorities and assemblies.
   

Benefit-sharing governance

• Transparent frameworks govern the allocation of carbon revenues, profits and value chain benefits, including community senior revenue-sharing and full revenue from timber extraction and non-carbon activities for communities in the long term.
   

Capacity & financial literacy

• Training on carbon markets, financial management and governance mechanisms supports community autonomy and long-term stewardship.
   

Cultural stewardship

• The project protects wetlands, relic Polylepis patches and culturally important areas, and avoids planting in archaeological sites or formally designated fragile ecosystems.
   

A dedicated CCB-style biodiversity baseline was conducted for flora, birds and mammals inside and outside the project area. Key findings include:

• Flora: 79 species across 32 botanical families in the project area.
   
• Birds: 18 bird species from 11 families recorded in the project area , including Andean tanagers and other grassland-associated species.
   
• Mammals: Two mammal species recorded (zorro colorado Lycalopex culpaeus and wild Cavia tschudii), reflecting the open, human-influenced grassland context.   

• Puma concolor – While not sighted during the biodiversity baseline, the Puma has been reported by local populations and Fronterra nursery workers. Additionally, a fox carcass documented during fieldwork suggests predation by a Puma.
   

Several plant species of conservation concern occur in the project landscape, including Ephedra rupestris (nationally Critically Endangered), Escallonia myrtilloides (Vulnerable), and Cactaceae species listed in CITES Appendix II, as well as CITES-listed raptors among the avifauna.

The project is explicitly designed not to reduce habitat quality in the Andean grassland (Pajonal Andino) but to address the main threats identified: land-use change from agricultural expansion, overgrazing and recurrent burning. By stabilising soils, restoring riparian corridors with native species and protecting relic forests and wetlands, Sumaq Allpa aims to enhance habitat connectivity and ecological resilience in a landscape that is already heavily modified and eroded.

• 12,000 ha of degraded high-Andean lands rehabilitated through mixed forestry systems with Radiata Pine and native species, across ~40 communities.
   
• c.5.6 million tCO₂e of net removals over a 40-year crediting period (c.140,000 tCO₂e/year on average), certified under Verra VM0047.
   
• Significant employment creation, including thousands of seasonal jobs in nurseries, planting, forest management and value chains over the project lifetime, with a focus on decent rural employment.
   
• Biodiversity enhancement via protection of relic Polylepis forests and wetlands, targeted native restoration along water bodies and corridors, and reduction of fire and grazing pressure on Andean grasslands.
   
• Climate adaptation benefits through reduced soil erosion and landslides, windbreak and frost-buffer functions of pine stands, and improved water retention and regulation.
   
• Socio-economic empowerment of 40+ communities through diversified income (carbon, timber, NTFPs, mushrooms) and equitable benefit-sharing structures.
   

Sumaq Allpa is developed under strong ESG safeguards and international best practice:

• Alignment with IFC Performance Standards, Peruvian environmental and social legislation, and Verra VCS/VM0047 plus CCB-type safeguards.
   
• Full respect for indigenous and local community rights, including robust Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes.
   
• No planting in protected areas, buffer zones or officially designated fragile ecosystems (e.g. bofedales, relic Polylepis forests); these are mapped and conserved.
   
• Landscape-scale design that avoids monocultures and promotes a heterogeneous mosaic of productive stands, restoration plots and conservation areas.
   
• Transparent governance, long-term social investment and capacity building, with communities as co-owners and co-managers of the forestry asset.
   

Environmental

• Restores soil structure and fertility on eroded slopes, reducing erosion and landslide risk.
   
• Improves watershed function and water retention in a climate-vulnerable region, complementing glacier-fed water systems.
   
• Enhances habitat quality and connectivity for high-Andean flora and fauna, while conserving species and habitats of conservation concern.
   
• Contributes to global climate mitigation through large-scale, additional carbon removals.
   

Social

• Raises household incomes through green jobs and diversified livelihoods (forestry, mushrooms, value chains), helping to reduce rural poverty and out-migration.
   
• Strengthens local governance, communal organisation and leadership, particularly among youth and vulnerable groups, via co-management and training.
   
• Supports cultural resilience by respecting communal decision-making processes and protecting culturally important landscapes.
   

Economic

• Generates long-term revenue from carbon credits, timber and NTFPs, with communities participating directly in profit-sharing.
   
• Attracts private and public investment into a scalable, bankable NBS model for high-mountain rehabilitation.
   
• Strengthens the resilience of rural economies to climate and market shocks by diversifying income sources and improving natural capital.
   

Sumaq Allpa is not just about planting trees; it is a long-term, community-owned programme to rehabilitate degraded high-Andean landscapes, restore native ecosystems where they naturally belong, and build viable rural economies around sustainable forestry and ecosystem services.

By combining climate action, biodiversity restoration and community development, Sumaq Allpa aims to become a replicable model for resilient mountain landscapes in Peru and beyond.

Get involved

FRONTERRA invites partners to engage in:

• Carbon credit offtake
   
• Impact investment and blended finance
   
• Technical and scientific collaboration
   
• Community and territorial partnerships
   

Join us in scaling high-integrity, nature-based climate solutions and resilient rural development in the Andes.

📩 Contact us to explore partnership opportunities and learn how to support Sumaq Allpa.

Verra registry (VCS 5360): https://registry.verra.org/app/projectDetail/VCS/5360