Sustainable Livelihoods, Deforestation, and Supply Chains: Analysis of Environmental and Socio-economic Data from the Frontier of the Peruvian Amazon, 2019-2021

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.<p>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, challenges, and opportunities for improving agricultural sustainability in the region. It will examine the data needed to inform and monitor the levels of sustainable rural livelihoods and forest conservation in the landscape, and seek to understand how sustainable agriculture (e.g. Fair Trade and organic certifications; agroforestry schemes) can be incentivised and promoted. Importantly, the project will develop standardised processes for data analysis to help support CIMA's objectives for improving the quality of life of local communities while conserving forests.

As CIMA is required to report on how its conservation work benefits local people, the project will support the development of a data management approach that is based on community needs and wants, and helps to develop a holistic approach to understanding the links between livelihoods, supply chains, and deforestation. The proposed project will involve collection, cleaning and consolidation of the NGO-held data, and develop a platform on which the data can be stored and easily accessed by CIMA in the long-term. This will support the NGO in project monitoring and evaluation duties, and reporting to funding agencies, impact investors and against policy frameworks such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Following the principles of mutual learning and transparency, all data and analysis will be shared by all members of the project team, and regular online meetings will be held between the research team and CIMA, to ensure that the data platform is developed with the input of users and to ensure that the project meets CIMA's needs. The project is based on a strong relationship between the research team and the local partners, CIMA, who have successfully worked together on a preliminary ESRC IAA fund.

The research term at the University of Sussex will organise a series of three participatory workshops (project inception; capacity building; outputs and impact workshops) in Peru, with the project's beneficiaries and stakeholders, including local and national government agencies. This will help to ensure that the project is supportive of Peru's national vision for sustainable development and that the project can inform sub-national and national policy in Peru. Furthermore, the project has important implications for a large international community of practice (including business, civil society, funding agencies, governments) working on the intersection of forests, supply chains and local livelihoods; which demands a strong evidence base for action. The research team is interdisciplinary in nature, bringing together environmental scientists, human geographers, sustainable supply chain and performance indicator experts. Outcomes of the research will then also inform those various academic communities, leading to better understanding of the influences between rural development, agricultural commodity production, including for export to global markets, and environmental conservation.</p>

数据集收集的总体目标、目的与背景
本项目旨在提升研究人员在秘鲁蓝山国家公园（Cordilliera Azul National Park）缓冲区开展社会经济分析的能力。该区域是亚马逊雨林西缘一处以天然河谷为核心划定的指定‘保护区’，拥有丰富且独特的自然生物多样性。公园西缘为森林前沿缓冲区，人口约25万，跨越多个地方行政区，分布着若干城镇并由全天候道路连接；东缘附近有多个原住民区域，大片连续森林延伸至巴西边境及更远处。毁林水平上升促使人们需更好地考量保护、生计（福祉）与贸易（木材及农产品贸易）之间的关联。本数据集整合了来自不同政府部门的相关二手数据源索引，旨在助力研究人员探索这一关联。

该索引包含：27套农业数据、4套生计数据（含人口普查数据及原住民群体分布位置）、3套毁林数据，以及与公园接壤的四个地方行政区——瓦努科（Huanuco）、洛雷托（Loreto）、圣马丁（San Martín）、乌卡亚利（Ucayali）的地理数据。

本项目通过协助秘鲁非政府组织（NGO）CIMA（自然区域保护、研究与管理中心）分析和管理其社会经济与地理空间数据，支持秘鲁亚马逊西缘农业社区的可持续经济发展与福祉提升。通过分析农户与农业供应链的大量二手数据，结合反映该区域毁林模式的地理空间数据，项目旨在深入理解当前实践、挑战及提升区域农业可持续性的机遇。项目将审视为指导和监测该区域可持续农村生计与森林保护水平所需的数据，并探索如何激励和推广可持续农业（如公平贸易、有机认证、农林复合经营方案）。值得注意的是，项目将制定标准化数据分析流程，以支持CIMA在保护森林的同时提升当地社区生活质量的目标。

由于CIMA需报告其保护工作如何惠及当地民众，项目将支持开发基于社区需求的数据管理方法，并助力构建理解生计、供应链与毁林之间关联的整体方法。拟议项目将包括收集、清理和整合NGO持有的数据，并开发一个平台，供CIMA长期存储和便捷访问数据。这将支持该NGO履行项目监测与评估职责，并向资助机构、影响力投资者报告，以及对照联合国可持续发展目标（UN Sustainable Development Goals）、联合国生物多样性公约（UN Convention on Biological Diversity）等政策框架进行汇报。遵循相互学习与透明原则，所有数据与分析成果将由项目团队全体成员共享；研究团队与CIMA将定期召开线上会议，确保数据平台的开发纳入用户意见，并保障项目满足CIMA的需求。本项目基于研究团队与本地合作伙伴CIMA之间的稳固关系，双方曾成功合作开展英国经济与社会研究理事会影响力加速基金（ESRC IAA fund）的初步项目。

萨塞克斯大学的研究团队将在秘鲁组织三场参与式工作坊（项目启动、能力建设、成果与影响工作坊），邀请项目受益方及利益相关者参与，包括地方与国家政府机构。这将有助于确保项目符合秘鲁可持续发展的国家愿景，并为秘鲁的地方及国家政策提供参考。此外，项目对致力于森林、供应链与地方生计交叉领域的广大国际实践社区（包括企业、民间社会、资助机构、政府）具有重要意义，该领域亟需坚实的行动证据基础。研究团队具有跨学科属性，汇聚了环境科学家、人文地理学家、可持续供应链专家及绩效指标专家。研究成果还将为这些不同学术社区提供参考，助力深化对农村发展、农产品生产（包括出口至全球市场的产品）与环境保护之间相互影响的理解。