Since December, the community has now had 5 sales of harvested fiber for a total of 4,900 kilograms. The sales have been favorable thus community members are excited as they are becoming more familiar with the local market for this product. But they have also noticed that there is a huge difference if they manage to manufacture and market fiber brooms for sale rather than selling the raw fiber raw. Marketing a value-added product not only will let them earn more money but also generate many jobs in the community. So the implementation of the management plan is going very well
Coordinating with the board of the communal company and the committee for self-defense, there were 3 outings into the forest this month to patrol and monitor the work of harvesting of the fiber and to see if there are threats from neighboring communities that are extracting fiber illegally in the communal land/management area land. Also, we began the practice of marking harvested plants with cards made of recycled plastic bottles (idea of Uliver’s wife!) labeled with permanent marker to mark and track the next harvest and cleanup activities. As a result of these patrols, it is known that there are threats from illegal harvesters from neighboring communities in remote areas.
In mid-February, we held a meeting in the multisectoral Chazuta District Municipality (MDCH) convened by the MDCH at the request of the Native Community of Mushuck Llacta Chipaota. They invited the various stakeholders in the harvesting and marketing chain of piazaba fiber including villagers, National Police, INRENA, Carriers, authorities from neighboring communities to Chipaota, CIMA, among others to address the issue of illegal trade and extraction of Piazaba fiber. Control mechanisms were agreed upon with neighboring communities, the national police and the MDCH to control lawlessness in the district. Days after this meeting, the authorities visited neighboring communities to discuss and formalize agreements to control illegal harvesting of Piazaba fiber, as pledged at the meeting of MDCH. Everyone is happy at the results and the wider understanding of the management plan area and consequences of illegally harvesting there.
Tags: Lucia
