The Political-Ecology of a “Forest Transition”: Eucalyptus forestry in the Southern Peruvian Andes

In numerous peasant communities of the Peruvian Andes,the eucalyptus tree (Eucalyptus globulus Labill.), an introducedspecies from Australia, represents a fundamentalcomponent of the rural livelihood system. This study examinesthe ways in which a forest transition—the partialreforestation of this region through eucalyptus plantationforestry—has, in addition to providing a valuable resource,transformed peasant economic and land tenure systemsand shaped the position that peasant communities haveassumed in Peruvian political and economic systems inrecent decades. During the agrarian reforms of the late1960s and early 1970s, the state promoted large-scaleeucalyptus forestry, partially as a means of strengtheningits political presence in the countryside. More recently, inthe wake of structural adjustment, non-governmental actors—namely NGOs and private business—by engagingin rural forestry, entered the political and economic vacuumcreated by a receding state apparatus. Applying a politicalecological perspective to a case study from southernPeru, this study looks specifically at the role that thiswidespread introduced species has played in shaping landtenure institutions, market integration, and peasant interactionswith the state, outside NGOs and businesses.