| Saving the Lowland Amazon Rainforests of
Peru
| 90 million acres of largely
untouched Amazon forests |
NCI is working with the regional government and
local institutions to create a conservation system for Loreto, Peru's
largest region with 90 million acres of Amazon forests, many of
which remain untouched. Together with the Regional Government and
the Institute for Investigation of the Peruvian Amazon (IIAP), we
are developing a strategy of productive conservation, in which local
populations are trained to better manage and conserve their natural
resources. This program aims to conserve biodiversity of the region
as a resource for present and future generations, while substantially
improving the livelihood of local communities.
 However,
this region faces increasing pressures from a growing population
and unsustainable economic activities that exploit and deplete natural
resources for short-term gains. As a result there has been a steady
depletion of economically valued natural resources, notably large
game and fish species in addition to fine woods. Through the Program
for Conservation, Management and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity
in the Region of Loreto (PROCREL) and with support from the
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, we hope to establish a new paradigm
of sustainable development based on sound resource conservation.
This "productive conservation" strategy has already improved
the lives of many women in the remote village
of San Antonio de Pintuyacu, who are weaving
hundreds of beautiful baskets from the fibers of the Chambira
palm tree. These artistic pieces are are now being sold at the San
Diego Zoo and San Diego Natural History Museum.
Also, through a partnership with the Peruvian
Association for the Conservation of Nature (APECO) and with support
from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, NCI is helping to significantly
strengthen management and protection of the Río
Abiseo National Park in northern Peru, home to an immense diversity
of flora and fauna including the endangered and endemic yellow-tailed
wooly monkey and five endemic species of frogs.
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