Kichwa v. MINAM

In 2020, the Kichwa community of Puerto Franco challenged Peru’s Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation, and the Regional Agrarian Directorate of San Martin to recognize their territorial sovereignty over lands encroached upon by Cordillera Azul’s REDD+ project. The Kichwa claimed that the State failed to comply with its obligation to protect and title the rights to the lands under the Cordillera Azul National Park, which was created in 2001 without the consent of the communities. In December 2024, the Mixed Court of Bellavista of the Superior Court of Justice of San Martin ruled in favor of the Kichwa and ordered the titling of the territory to the community, the distribution of benefits from the park’s carbon credit sales, and guaranteeing the Kichwa access to the park’s natural resources. The court cited Article 89 of the Peruvian Constitution in its decision and Articles 26-27 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in its ruling to emphasize the legal principles underlying the Kichwa's rights to autonomous control over their traditional lands. The court also issued a mandatory management sharing duty to the Kichwa and ordered the resizing of the REDD+ project. Thus, the ruling established legal and procedural mechanisms for the Kichwa people to be involved in REDD+ decision-making in the National Park, thereby strengthening their customary rights over their forests.