New Regional Conservation Area Protects 69,000 Acres in Peru

10/26/2011

Salitral-Huarmaca RCA

November 1, 2011 | Nature and Culture International and its local partners were instrumental in coordinating the designation of the Salitral-Huarmaca Regional Conservation Area, which protects more than 69,000 acres of endangered dry forest in northwestern Peru. On July 21, 2011, the Peruvian Natural Protected Area Service (SERNANP) formally announced the new designation after two years of on the ground work by the Piura Regional Government and NCI, which helped prepare the initial formal requests that led to the area’s creation.

This vast new conservation area shelters critical habitat for the White-winged Guan, whose population has dwindled to less than 350 as a result of habitat fragmentation and hunting.

Welcoming the decision of SERNANP, an official release by the government of Piura read:

“Establishing this Regional Conservation Area will contribute not only to the protection of biological diversity but will also serve as a means for promoting the development of local populations. [It will] establish a close link between conservation and the fight against poverty.”

Nature and Culture International worked with local communities in the region to ensure that their objectives were represented in the final request to the Peruvian government. The new protected area establishes rules to regulate and guarantee the sustainable use of natural resources.

“This success once again shows that our hard work on behalf of communities and ecosystems alike makes a difference,” said Noam Shany, who coordinates conservation efforts for NCI in the region.