They do not confirm the legal origin of wood purchased by government agencies – Inforegion

mother of god. Public institutions (regional government, municipalities or universities) in the Madre de Dios area would purchase illegally sourced wood for the construction of public works. “100% of the 20 government procurement processes analyzed were not required to provide documents proving the legal origin of the wood,” said Andrea Chávez, coordinator of the Forestry Anti-Corruption Network in the Madre de Dios region.

In public tender processes, according to Article 183 of the Law and Regulation No. 29763, public administrations are required to apply standards proving the legal origin of forest products. “It is a duty for natural and legal persons, as well as the state, to prove the legal origin of forest products,” said Chavez Soto. He added that the Madre de Dios region is where the largest illegal timber sold at home and abroad comes from.

It was also found that in the government procurement processes reviewed, only four bidders emerged, most of whom were disqualified for not meeting the requirements. Therefore, in most forest products purchasing processes, the same bidder gets the good bidder.

Another problem identified in forest management surveys is the approval of Forest Management Plans (PMF). Between 2019 and 2021, 69% of FMPs approved in Madre de Dios were sent to Osinfor after the set deadline. This limits the possibility of authorities such as Osinfor to exercise control. Forestry and Wildlife Management must record in real time the approved PMF in the information system of digitized files of Osinfor – SIADO. Limiting the control of the PMF and thus verifying the legal origin of the wood leads to irregularities.

As is known, in the Madre de Dios case, the Prosecutor’s Office accuses former regional governor Luis Okimura of favoring a conglomerate of Chinese timber companies represented, among others, by citizen Xiaodong Ji, in order to obtain forest rights in return. For benefits, including the delivery of donations to Forestry and Wildlife Management officials for the “Los hostiles de la Amazonía” case, which he allegedly sponsored for a trip to China in 2019.

About 36 people, among the public officials and timber merchants of the Madre de Dios regional government, were tried in this case by the Madre de Dios High Court of Justice. It is worth noting that the aforementioned former regional governor has escaped justice and has an international arrest warrant.

Truth:

• The network is a group of young people from civil society in the Madre de Dios region interested in citizen oversight of the forest area. They aim to make forest management transparent by examining and examining the work carried out by relevant state institutions such as Forest Management, Osinfor, Serfor and regional and local governments in these institutions. They also run awareness campaigns by organizing events that connect students from colleges and schools with the management and sustainable use of forests. The forest anti-corruption network has the support of Proetica through its Environmental Governance project, which supports forest anti-corruption networks in the Amazon regions.