Farmer communities in the Peruvian Andes sustainably manage vicuña fiber production for international market while preserving endangered species

Helping farmer communities of Huaytará, Huancavelica, improve productivity and quality of vicuña fiber is not only generating a greater income for their families. It is also contributing to the conservation of the vicuña by ensuring that “a sheared vicuña is a saved vicuña”

Vicuña, one of the finest fibers of the world, provides a significant source of income to farmer communities in Huancavelica. Sheared alive vicuñas are returned to the wild and will not be sheared for several years, preserving this biodiversity resource and symbol of Peruvian natural wealth .

Unlike the llama and the alpaca which are domesticated South American camelids, their vicuña relative is a wild species that live at large in the high Andes at an altitude between 3,200 and 4,800 meters. The vicuña is the national animal of Peru and the animal icon of its biodiversity wealth. Vicuña fiber is one of the finest in the world. Made up of 10-12 micron fine fibers, vicuña fiber lasts three times longer than alpaca fiber, with an average lifetime of 15 years. Given the high prices that this fiber commands in world markets, poaching has been a common threat to vicuña’s survival, making this an endangered species, now protected by law.

Vicuña fiber produced in Huancavelica region is longer and therefore has a higher quality- than the average length required by the market and has tremendous potential to improve the living standard of the members of the farmer communities of this region at an altitude between 3,700 and 4,200 meters. To contribute to that end, the PRA Project is working on improving the production, management, and trade brokerage capabilities of four communities in Huaytará, which group 750 people. The Project is providing technical assistance on techniques to improve the capture and shear of vicuñas, and the classification of fleeces according to the color and fineness of the fiber. PRA is also helping communities organize and work jointly in consistently increasing their production supply over time, and upgrading their quality standards. The Project is providing technical assistance to strengthen communities’ access to working capital for the vicuña collection season, when the chaku (herding, capturing and shearing) takes place, running from May to October. The Government of the Huancavelica Region and Buenaventura Mining Company are also participating in this initiative. The former is investing in fences for the capture and Buenaventura is providing funds for technical studies and investing in improvement of fences and equipment for the catch of vicuñas. Fences will also prevent poaching and will help delimitation of areas for the improvement of natural pasture and better feeding conditions for vicuñas. The Project is also supporting the surveillance and park-guarding committee of the Huaytará area.

PRA is working with Argentine company Pelama Chubut as the client firm which is directly purchasing the fiber from the communities, at prices which are 20% higher than those offered by other buyers in the domestic market. Pelama Chubut –which accounts for more than 80% of the Argentine production of special fibers- then processes the vicuña fiber in its manufacturing facilities in Argentina and exports the products to European and Asian markets. After facing some difficulties in obtaining permits for exporting the fiber and passing customs procedures, the communities managed to complete the first exporting operation in 2010. PRA plans to expand the scope of this project to other twelve communities of Huaytará and Huancavelica provinces.