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Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve

Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, PeruA green parrot cleaning its wings, Pacaya-Samiria Reserve, Peru.

Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve © Lisa Henke/TNC; Green parrot © Ana Garcia/TNC

 

Read a daily travelogue of a visitor to Pacaya-Samiria

Travel with a first-time visitor to the Amazon as she discovers the wonders of Peru's Pacaya-Samirira National Reserve.


Protecting 5 million acres of Amazon rainforest


Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve is like no other protected area in Peru as it is directly linked to the economic well-being of such a large human population. At least 100,000 “ribereños,” people living along the riverbanks of this Amazonian flooded rain forest, rely on its aquatic and terrestrial resources for food and income. Their work day is mostly occupied by subsistence activities like fishing, small-scale agriculture, gathering and hunting. Their survival depends on their intimate relationship with the natural environment.

Pacaya is the second largest national reserve in Peru, spanning more than 5 million acres. It is also the largest protected flooded forest in the world, making it one of the prime intact swaths of rain forest in the Peruvian Amazon. During the rainy season in the Andes the water level of the Ucayali and Marañon rivers rise, flooding 85% of the reserve, which remains flooded between four to six months of the year. Because of this, boat is the only way to access the reserve, which is twice the size of Yellowstone National Park and large enough to cover the entire U.S. state of New Jersey.

Location
Pacaya Samiria is located in the headwaters of the Amazon River in the northeastern Peru, on an alluvial plain between the Marañon and Ucayali river systems. The reserve is accessible via the Amazon River through the nearby city of Iquitos in the department of Loreto, or through the city of Tarapoto in the department of San Martin.

Animals
Under the dense canopy of the rain forest, 449 species of tropical birds - including five of eight macaws native to Peru - share the tree branches with howler and spider monkeys.  Levees and palm forests sustain peccaries, tapirs, and jaguars.

Pacaya Samiria has abundant acuatic resources, making it truly a fisherman’s dream. There are at least 256 known species of freshwater fish in Pacaya’s waters including the Giant Arapaima (Arapaima gigas), the largest fish in the Amazon, which can grow up to 8 feet in length and weigh 500 pounds. Floodplain lakes harbor many endangered or threatened aquatic species like gray and pink dolphins, manatees, giant river otters, black and spectacled caimans, and river turtles.

Plants
Nearly 1,000 plant species grouped into 132 families have been documented in Pacaya, including 22 species of orchids and 29 species of palms. Palms are the dominant plant throughout the reserve, the most abundant being the moriche (Mauritia flexuosa) known locally as the aguaje. Wildlife and local villagers rely heavily on palms for food. The aguaje fruit is critical to the diets of parrots and mammals such as the tapir, paca and agouti, while people use the fruit in drinks and ice cream. Birds and mammals feed on the fruit of the chonta palm, while humans harvest the palm’s heart.

Why the Conservancy Works Here
Widespread human migration into the Amazon since the 1970s has eliminated key forest tracts and fractured others. Uncontrolled hunting, logging and unsustainable fishing and harvesting of forest products further threaten Pacaya Samiria and its surrounding lands and waters. Give its extent, location and high biological diversity, Pacaya is a priority conservation site. Its conservation and management are key for sustaining the long-term well-being of its inhabitants.

What the Conservancy Is Doing
The Nature Conservancy and its Peruvian conservation partners — Pro Naturaleza, the Peruvian Society of Environmental Law (SPDA), the Conservation Data Center at La Molina University and the Peruvian Park Service (INRENA), have been working together to protect and conserve Pacaya’s terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity while guaranteeing the livelihoods of local populations. The cornerstone of work is to involve local communities in the reserve’s conservation and management. Activities include:

• Support the reserve’s management committee and natural resource management groups to establish conservation goals and measures, allowing for more effective conservation planning, management and monitoring. Four new park guard posts were constructed and equipped for more effective reserve vigilance. In addition, plans have been developed with local entities to monitor endangered and threatened species and control tourism development within and around the reserve.

• Provide technical assistance in fisheries management. Given fish comprises nearly 80% of local people’s diet, fisheries management is helping ensure the long-term conservation of this important natural resource for the benefit of Pacaya’s residents. Locals have received technical assistance in monitoring and management of fish populations, and to-date, six fishing management plans to be implemented by 8 fishing cooperatives have been officially approved by local authorities.

• Assist local residents in palm conservation. Previously, local communities were harvesting palms for their fruits or palm hearts faster than they could regrow, threatening their long-term survival. The Conservancy and partners are providing technical assistance to help residents learned climbing-techniques for harvesting palm fruits rather than cutting down the tree for its fruit. Residents have also adopted sustainable management techniques including tree pruning and reforestation. Five palm management plans have been officially approved by Peru’s Agricultural Ministry, benefiting at least 300 families.

• Assist in river turtle management. River turtles and their eggs are an important source of income and protein in local people’s diets. In recent years, however, local river turtle, or taricaya, populations began to decline due to over hunting and poaching. In response, local residents learned techniques in turtle management with the Conservancy's support. Now, local turtle management groups collect eggs and place them in artificial nests on protected beaches within the reserve, assisting in the repopulation and management of new and existing turtle populations. Local schools also participate in activities as they have been incorporated into their curriculum.