In Peru, a UK delegation follows two forest value chains from tree to market
Thursday, 05 November 2026
By Paula Perrelli dos Anjos
Representatives of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the British Embassy in Lima and Palladium International, which manages the UK PACT programme, spent two days in the Peruvian Amazon, meeting the companies and harvester associations at the centre of two forest value chains.
The delegation, accompanied by Amazonia Impact Ventures (AIV), saw how copoazú and Amazon nuts move from forest to processing plant, and met the anchor companies that buy them and sell to national and international markets.
The trip took place last week under “Catalysing the Amazon Bioeconomy: Transforming Sustainable Value Chains through Private Sector-Led”, a programme that supports economic growth and climate resilience in the region. It is funded by the UK PACT Amazon Regional Fund and implemented by AIV.
The first day focused on copoazú, a relative of cacao native to the Amazon. In Puerto Maldonado, the delegation toured the processing facility of Chozú, an agro-industrial company that turns copoazú into cupulate and cacao into chocolate, as well as making other value-added products. Chozú says it pays its producers 30% above the market price, and traces its raw materials back to source.
Later in the afternoon, the delegation travelled to INARSAC, a company that produces organic copoazú butter and Amazon nut oil for the cosmetics industry, and runs agroforestry and conservation work in the region.
On the second day, attention moved to the Amazon nut. Unlike copoazú, the nut is rarely grown in plantations. It's gathered from wild trees, which gives local communities a direct economic reason to protect the forest. The day started at Irma Cruz's concession in Tambopata, which supplies Candela.
Candela, a social enterprise founded in 1989, processes and exports organic products from the Amazon and the Andes. At the company’s plant in Puerto Maldonado, staff explained how nuts are dried, shelled, and sorted before reaching national and international buyers. The last stop was ASCART, an association of Amazon nut harvesters working in the Tambopata National Reserve and Bahuaja-Sonene National Park.
Addressing the delegation, Rosa Chávez, president of the association, said:
“For 25 years, we have learned that conserving our forests is not something we can do alone.” Partnerships have helped ASCART reach export markets, secure better prices and protect more than 50,000 hectares of forest, she said.
Members of AFIMAD, the Indigenous Forestry Association of Madre de Dios, also joined the mission. The visit made a practical argument.
“Both value chains depend on finance that suits local companies and supports forest conservation,” said Aldo Soto, Co-Founder and Managing Director of AIV.
UK PACT
UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (UK PACT) is a flagship ODA technical assistance programme funded by the UK Government. It supports countries with high mitigation potential, providing them with the expertise they need to cut emissions quickly and grow their economy sustainably. Running since 2018, it works in partnership with over 20 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to tackle the most pressing climate issues they face across forests and land use, energy, finance, governance and transport and cities. UK PACT deploys in-country and international expertise, as well as leveraging the UK’s world class public and private sector experts to deliver impactful and long-lasting change. In Peru, UK PACT invests in the Amazon's low-carbon future, bringing in expertise when local partners need it and supporting long-term change to the systems that shape the regional economy.
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