Chimbote's Local Agenda 21: initiatives to support its development and implementation describes a city initiative to defend the environment and reduce pollution. Chimbote is an important industrial fishing port now considered the third most contaminated city in Peru due to the lack of urban environmental planning and regulation and lack of leadership from local government. The paper includes an account of the work of the Association for the Defense and Conservation of the Environment of the Province of La Santa (ADECOMAPS), which started as an ecological movement for the protection and conservation of an important park and which now brings together 42 different institutions including grassroots organizations, NGOs, universities, professional training institutions, politicians and government bodies. The association has developed an environmental action plan (or Local Agenda 21) for the city despite the reluctance of the provincial mayor.