Tambopata – Bahuaja Sonene in the Peruvian Amazon

BIODIVERSITY DEL TAMBOPATA BAHUAJA SONENE (PERUVIAN AMAZON)

The Madre de Dios region, where the Tambopata National Reserve is located, is recognised as the “biodiversity capital of  Peru”, supporting 30% of Peru’s biodiversity despite only covering 7% of its national territory. It is home to some of the most inspiring, important and threatened in Bahuaja Sonene Tambopata

species in the world, including giant river otters and a staggering 209 species and subspecies of monkey, including howler, squirrel and spider monkeys and several species of marmoset. There are 21 threatened species found on the IUCN Red List including jaguars, giant armadillos, maned wolves and blue macaws. The project maintains healthy ecosystems that shelter populations of large mammals
that were extensively hunted due to the high value of their skins and furs. The region also hosts nearly 35% of all Peru’s reptiles, and 40% of the country’s frogs, toads, salamanders and other amphibians. The Tambopata National Reserve is characterised by a rich diversity of flora species as well as fauna, with over 1200 plants identified so far in Bahuja sonene tambopata.

COMMUNITIES OF THE TAMBOPATA BAHUAJA SONENE   (AMAZONIA PERUANA)

More than 11,000 people in 50 communities live in the buffer zone of the TambopataBahuaja project, including 4 indigenous communities whose livelihoods will directly or indirectly benefit from the project. The project aims to create over 2000 jobs for cocoa farmers and 10 control posts and park guards’ centres, making a material difference to the welfare of local families by increasing their income through sustainable economic activities promoted by the REDD+ project. The project marks the beginning of a substantial improvement in local capacity and a pathway for the development of sustainable livelihoods for these local communities away from slash and burn agriculture

FLORA   TAMBOPATA BAHUAJA SONENE (AMAZONIA PERUANA )

The Tambopata River in Madre de Dios near the Puno foothills is riddled with clumps of bamboo, the exclusive habitat of a variety of species of birds and mammals. The area features mature flooded forest and jungle typical of lower cloud forest. Flora in the national reserve  Bahuja Sonene is fairly typical of the southwest Amazon Basin. 8 The Heath River and surrounding plains are a unique ecosystem in Peru. The pampas are pastures that are periodically flooded, and small groves of trees with varied plant life grow in isolated clumps on the plain. The protected area is home to a wide diversity of plant life, including exploited forest species such as cedar (Cedrela odorata), mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), tornillo (Cedrelinga sp.),Brazil nut (Bertholetia excelsa), palm trees such as the pona (Iriartea ventricosa), aguaje (Mauritia flexuosa), huasaí (Euterpe sp.) and ungurahui (Jessenia bataua).

FAUNA  TAMBOPATA BAHUAJA SONENE (AMAZONIA PERUANA)

Researchers have discovered in the protected area large numbers of species that are now rarely found elsewhere in the Amazon jungle  Bahuaja sonene due to poaching, particularly tapirs and spider monkeys, but also jaguars, white-lipped peccary, medium-sized and large monkeys and caiman. The rivers teem with giant river otters and beavers. Within the reserve, the lower elevation zone is dominated mostly by Amazonian bird species, the ones that are at or near their upper elevation limits, and by species that are restricted (or partially restricted) to the narrow band of rain forest found on the lower slopes of the Andes. Because of the growing deforestation rate along this latitudinal border in other parts of the Andes, this ecosystem is one of these most threatened in all of South America. A relatively large portion of this ecosystem is found within the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park. In a 5,000-hectare area where La Torre River feeds into Tambopata, almost 575 bird species have been registered. In addition, this same area contains approximately 1200 butterfly species, making its conservation extremely important (CI Peru).