Central Selva Protection Area

Peru's Central Selva © Timothy Boucher/TNC

Did you know?

The Amazon River Basin is larger than the entire "lower 48" United States and covers parts of nine South American countries. The Nature Conservancy is working beyond the Peru in Amazonian regions of Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador and Venezuela.

Protecting a fragile and diverse landscape

The Central Selva Protection Area, located on the eastern slope of the Andes, on the headwaters of the Amazon Basin, encompasses almost 4.5 million acres of Andean highlands, highland and lowland rain forests, cloud forests and the basins of four major rivers. It includes a network of three protected areas—the Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park, the San Matías-San Carlos Protection Area, and the Yanesha Communal Reserve. In addition the area contains a large part of El Sira Communal Reserve. The Central Selva Protection Area encompasses a fragile landscape of steep slopes with altitudes from 1,500 to 12,800 feet (455 to 3,885 meters) above sea level, presenting a dramatic elevation gradient that, combined with abundant rainfall, accounts for the area’s high biodiversity.

Location
The Central Selva Protection Area is located on the eastern slopes of the Peruvian Andes in the province of Oxapampa. A large part of this area is located within two ecoregions of exceptionally high biological diversity: the humid eastern montane forests of the Peruvian Andes, and the Ucayali moist forest.

Major Habitat Types of Central Selva
• Moist Tropical Forests
• Montane Grasslands

Animals
Eighty-five mammal species have been reported in the conservation unit, including:
• Agouti
• Jaguar
• Tapir
• Paca
• Capybara
• Collared peccary
• Spectacled bear
• Giant river otter

The area also provides habitat for more than 500 species of birds, including macaws, hummingbirds, the harpy eagle and the Andean cock-of-the-rock, Peru’s national bird. Several species of migratory birds fly between this region and the United States, including the Blackburnian warbler, chimney swift, eastern kingbird, Mississippi kite, peregrine falcon, scarlet tanager and yellow-billed cuckoo. In addition, 16 species of reptiles and 238 species of fish have been reported in the area.

Plants
At least 2,500 shrub and tree species have been documented in the region and the Missouri Botanical Garden, which is surveying the plant life and forest dynamics in the Central Selva, estimate that the real figure could be up to 6,000 species. Plant life is so incredibly varied that an Australian scientist set a world record recently when he discovered more than 100 different species of epiphytes (such as bromeliads, lichens, mosses and orchids) growing from a single ficus tree in the Yanachaga Chemillén National Park.

Why the Conservancy Works Here
Habitat fragmentation is the greatest threat to the region, which was once blanketed by primary forests. Today almost 30 percent of the Central Selva has been deforested and it is under heavy threat from unsustainable agricultural practices, cattle grazing and illegal logging. At the same time, the Central Selva forests are some of the most biodiverse in the world. This site is located in an ecoregion that is considered a global conservation priority.

What the Conservancy Is Doing
The Conservancy has supported work in the Central Selva Protection Area for nearly 15 years. During this time the focus has grown from the 296,400 acre Yanachaga-Chemillen National Park to include three protected areas and an almost five million acre area of influence that includes the upper watersheds of the rivers that spring from the high Andes and flow through the site. This expansion has come about through the site conservation planning process and the identification of wide-ranging conservation targets (such as the Andean spectacled bear) and the key ecological processes that support them. Conservation activities being applied to protect the area include:

•   Improving protected area planning and management.
•   Engaging local and indigenous communities in the management of protected areas
•   Designing and implementing financial sustainability strategies for protected areas
•   Promoting agroforestry, forest management and the creation of municipal reserves in buffer areas
•   Increasing environmental awareness in local communities
•   Supporting the creation and international recognition of the Central Selva Protection Area as a
    Biosphere Reserve

The Conservancy and its partners are also developing a climate-action project in collaboration with the government to mitigate global warming, protect standing forests and restore native tree species.