Riparian communities in the Peruvian Amazon depend heavily on freshwater resources and aquatic ecosystems for their livelihoods, cultural practices, and food security. This close dependence makes them particularly vulnerable to external pressures such as logging, gold mining, overfishing, deforestation, and the construction of hydroelectric infrastructure. Conversely, the long-term sustainability of freshwater ecosystems depends on the stewardship by riparian communities, whose local knowledge, practices, and community agreements play a critical role in maintaining this socio-ecological balance.
Meanwhile, national governance structures and policy frameworks regulating the management of freshwater resources often fail to reflect the needs, priorities, and territorial knowledge of the communities they serve. This misalignment weakens both ecological outcomes and community well-being. To address this gap, this study adopts an interdisciplinary and participatory research approach grounded in principles of knowledge co-creation and the integration of geospatial data.
Drawing on community-based mapping, participatory methods, and qualitative analysis, the study documents how riparian communities understand, use, and govern freshwater ecosystems within their territories. I combined community data with geospatial data to highlight the interplay between socio-ecological knowledge from communities and the physical environment. Through their own norms, cultural practices, and natural resource agreements communities change the way national laws and regulations are expressed and enacted in this region, offering the possibility of mitigating these misalignments as well as to aim for more inclusive and effective policy decision-making process.