Study title

General aims, purposes and background of the collection. The project aimed to improve the capability of researchers to conduct socio-economic analysis in the buffer zone of the Cordilliera Azul National Park in Peru. This is a designated ‘protected area’ of rainforest, defined around a natural valley at the Western edge of the Amazon rainforest, and thus containing high and unique natural biodiversity. The Western edge of the park is a forest-frontier buffer zone, with a population of around 250,000, crossing a number of different local authority areas , with a number of towns and connected by all-season roads. The Eastern edge of the park has various indigenous areas in the vicinity, and is largely continuous forest to the border of Brazil and beyond. Rising levels of deforestation within the buffer zone prompt a need to better consider the nexus of conservation, livelihoods (well-being) and trade (in timber and agricultural commodities). This data set has been assembled as an index of relevant secondary data sources from across different government departments in order to help researchers explore this nexus. The index includes: 27 sets of agricultural data, 4 sets of livelihood data incl. census data and locations of indigenous groups, and 3 sets of deforestation data, plus geodata for the four local authorities bordering the park: Huanuco, Loreto, San Martín, Ucayali.This project supports sustainable economic development and welfare in farming communities in the Western edge of the Peruvian Amazon, by assisting a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Peru called CIMA (Centro de Conservación, Investigación y Manejo de Areas Naturales) to analyse and manage its socio-economic and geospatial data. Through analysis of extensive secondary data on farmer households and agricultural supply chains, alongside geospatial data providing evidence of patterns of deforestation in the landscape, the project aims to gain a better understanding of current practices,...