Explorer Tambopata Bahuaja Sonene

Explorer Tambopata Bahuaja Sonene

The Explorer Bahuaja Sonene National Park conserves that it is a mosaic of many habitats that can house a great diversity of flora and fauna that is located in the southern part of Peru and the northern Amazon. Which

comes to Protect unique elements in Peru, It has a humid tropical savanna called (Heath Pampas), which has a habitat for many species such as the swamp deer and the maned wolf, and the formations of the Candamo Valley

Explorer Tambopata Bahuaja Sonene

The Explorer Tambopata  Bahuaja Sonene National Reserve and  (Peruvian Amazon)

are located in the southern region of Peru, specifically in the province of Tambopata, Madre de Dios department, and

in the provinces of Sandia and Caraballa, Puno department. These areas are highly protected and were created in

1990, occupying a total area of 1,366,106.00 hectares, divided into the National Park with 1,091,416 hectares and the National Reserve with 274,690.00 hectares.

The Parks are part of an ecoregion of the Southwest Amazon Rainforest and contain habitats of tropical rainforest and pre-mountain tropical rainforest.

These natural areas have a great biodiversity of species inhabiting them. The Tambopata River basin is known to be

one of the ecosystems with the highest biodiversity in the world. Here, we find a wide variety of plant communities

with different species of plants, giant trees of great economic importance such as cedar, mahogany, tornillo,

chestnut, and various palms such as pona and aguaje.

The wildlife of this natural reserve harbors a great biodiversity of species.

Among them, we find the giant river otter, a species that is endangered, as well as other species such as the giant

anteater, the giant armadillo, the black spider monkey, the jaguar, the roseate spoonbill, the taricaya turtle, the

anaconda, and others.

However, over the years, these protected areas have faced various threats that endanger their great biodiversity of

species. Agriculture, gold mining, illegal logging, hunting of wildlife, excessive extraction of natural resources, and

the paving of the Cusco – Puerto Maldonado highway are some of the main threats. Additionally, the increase in

migratory processes to the region increases the pressure on these protected areas.

Strict measures are being taken to protect and conserve the Tambopata National Reserve. This Bahuaja Sonene

National Park now represents not only a significant reserve of biodiversity but also an invaluable natural heritage for

Peru and the world – from our Peruvian Amazon

Tambopata – Bahuaja Sonene in the Peruvian Amazon

BIODIVERSITY  -Explorer Tambopata Bahuaja Sonene

Explorer Tambopata Bahuaja Sonene –  in the 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 –  Tambopata – Bahuaja .

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  – Explorer Tambopata – Bahuaja Sonene .

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  .

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).

Wildlife Butterfly

This new initiative at Taricaya is in its infancy but the long term goal of the project is to research the reproduction of several different species of butterfly and their potential commercialization as a viable source of income for local rainforest inhabitants thus reducing their impact on the forest and improving their standard of living at the same

time. This idea of scientific research coupled with financial gains for local communities makes this project very exciting and the large enclosure is completed and the laboratory equipped.This new initiative at Taricaya is in its infancy but the long term goal of the project is to research the reproduction of several different species of butterfly and their potential commercialization as a viable source of income for local rainforest inhabitants thus reducing their impact on the forest and improving their standard of living at the same time. This idea of scientific research coupled with financial gains for local communities makes this project very exciting and the large enclosure is completed and the laboratory equipped

Explorer Tambopata Bahuaja Sonene

It also protects the cultural processes of the Ese’eja culture, an indigenous ethnic group ancestrally linked to these territories. Additionally, its establishment contributes to the sustainable development of the Madre de Dios and Puno regions.

Located in the ecoregion of the southwestern Amazon rainforest, it presents typical habitats of this forest and the pre-mountain tropical rainforest. The area includes lakes or cochas, palm swamps, and seasonally flooded areas. Among the prominent habitats are the Heath Pampas, which motivated the creation of a sanctuary in 1983 for its conservation.

This vast plain covered with grasslands up to 2 meters tall has small clusters of palms that become islands when the pampas are completely flooded between December and April. Additionally, its presence determines the southern limit of the continent’s tropical forests, which from here transform into the vast Beni savannas.

The area occupied by the Bahuaja Sonene National Park is the ancestral territory of the Ese’eja ethnic group, belonging to the Tacana linguistic family, who are now concentrated in the communal property areas of Infierno, Palma Real, and Sonene, adjacent to the Park. A fourth neighboring native community, Kotsimba, corresponds to the Pukirieri ethnicity, of the Harakmbut family.

The Bahuaja Sonene National Park is the link that connects the protected natural areas of Peru with those of Bolivia (bordering the Madidi National Park), in the proposed Vilcabamba Amboró Conservation Corridor. Visiting this corner of the country offers anyone the reasons to preserve our biological and cultural diversity. Knowing this and other places in our Amazon makes us see ourselves as small elements within a whole system that has always worked perfectly and dazzles us with its beauty.

Flora and Fauna

In the Bahuaja Sonene National Park, the presence of more than 600 bird species has been reported—378 of them in the Heath River sector—among which 7 species of macaws, the roseate spoonbill, the king vulture, and the harpy eagle stand out. In turn, it is estimated that more than 180 mammal species inhabit its interior, including bush dogs, crab-eating foxes, and short-eared foxes, the giant otter or river wolf, the marsh deer, and the unique maned wolf; the latter two are emblematic species of the Heath Pampas that do not exist anywhere else in the country.

Additionally, species such as the giant anteater, the giant armadillo, the black spider monkey, and the jaguar are also found. Among reptiles and amphibians, the presence of more than 50 species has been determined, where the black caiman, the green anaconda, and the yellow-spotted river turtle stand out; there are also 5 species of endemic frogs. The presence of 180 fish species and 1,200 butterfly species has also been reported.

The Bahuaja Sonene National Park protects the only portion of tropical wet savanna in Peru, where palms such as the aguaje abound, forming islands on the dozens of grass species that grow in the flooded plains that are the refuge of highly specialized fauna. In the Candamo River basin area, palms, rubber trees, and tornillo trees can be found.

In the highest part, there are dwarf forests composed of shrubs and small trees. The high diversity of plant communities in all sectors of the Bahuaja Sonene National Park also includes several economically important tree species such as cedar, mahogany, chestnut, and various palms such as the pona, the huasaí, and the ungurahui.

Climate

The Bahuaja Sonene National Park is located in a place where the tropical and subtropical Amazonian climates converge. The area receives annual rainfall equivalent to 2,400 mm. The average temperature is 30°C, but it can reach up to 38°C in summer or drop to 8°C.

The occasional “friajes,” Antarctic winds that enter the area, produce low temperatures between June and July. With the rains from December to March, the pampas are covered with water, forming a huge swamp.

Activities of Interest

Adventure tourism (rafting and other activities) can be carried out on the Tambopata River between June and September. Along the river, camping on its beaches allows for the appreciation of the variety of flora and fauna present. The Heath clay lick, a 7-hour journey from Puerto Maldonado by navigating the Madre de Dios and Heath rivers, can also be visited. There, a great variety of colorful macaws, parrots, parakeets, and tapirs can be seen, among other animals