This week the Peruvian ministry of the environment has announced the official resolution (Resolución Ministerial Nº123-2011-MINAM) creating the Private Conservation Area “Hierba Buena-Allpayacu”. This reserve covers an area of 2,282.12 hectares of cloud forests in the community of Corosha, Amazonas department. We began work in this area in 2007/8 and have been joined by other institutions, headed by The Peruvian Society for Environmental Law (SPDA) to help register the reserve.

The reserve is home to two endemic primate species, the yellow tailed woolly monkey (Oreonax flavicauda) and the Peruvian night monkey (Aotus miconax) and many spectacular bird species including the long whiskered owlet (Xenoglaux loweryi) and the Pale-billed Antpitta (Grallaria carrikerii). The reserve also protects other species of flora and fauna, preserves the communities water resources, which are also used as the source of hydroelectric energy as well as conserving the community’s cultural heritage. The creation of this area is the first of a series of community run reserves NPC is working to make in the north east of Peru.

Visitors who wish to visit the reserve can contact us through our website to arrange for guides and accommodation. 100% of profits from tourism go directly to the members of the community.

 Great animated movie made by Karla Ramirez. Explains the threats to yellow tailed woolly monkeys and their possible solutions.   

Another movie made by Karla with the kids of La Esperanza telling about their village, the forests and the animals they like.  

Enjoy!

This week we officially entered a request for a new Conservation Concession for an area of 440 ha of forest near the village of Delta, Amazonas department. The request is in the name of Senor Rosas Torres Guerrero a local farmer that has been protecting this area for the last 10 years and asked for our help in gaining legal recognition. The area will be called “Iguahuana -Delta’s Dry Forests”. Iguahuana is the local name of an endemic tree species abundant in the area. The forests in the area are classed as Dry Forest of the Marañon River Valley, they suffer from extremely high rates of destruction and as yet this forest type is not found in any protected area. We hope that the authorities will approve the request promptly. We wish to thank all the people that helped in the elaboration of this request.

Click here to download our end of year report for 2010.

NPC has found a new site to see the Long-whiskered Owlet near the village of Yambrasbamba, Amazonas. The site, located just off a well maintained dirt road is by far the most accessible site to see this legendary bird. The site has attracted the interest of the residents of the community who have decided to protect it and develop ecotourism, NPC is of course helping the community. The site has been secured with a fence and a payment of $15 has been implemented for tourists wishing to visit area. 100% of this money goes to the community: divided between the maintenance of a 5000 ha communal conservation area, and generating income for local residents. Local field guides have been trained by Neotropical Birding Tours. The area is about half an hour drive from the town of Pomacochas, there is a small hotel and basic restaurants in the village itself.

All visits to the area must be pre-arranged by contacting NPC.

In research conducted earlier in the year a team from NPC completed the first range wide survey of its Peru projects flagship species, the yellow tailed woolly monkey. While searching new areas we were able to record this species in the department of Huanuco for the first time and also in the department of La Libertad for the first time since 1974. These areas are often overlooked by conservationists as most of the species known range is found in the neighbouring departments of Amazonas and San Martin.  

Native only to a small area of Andean cloud forest in north-eastern Peru, and cited by the IUCN as one of the 25 most endangered primates in the world, the yellow tailed woolly monkey is so rare that it was believed to have gone extinct until, in the mid 1970’s, a small number of sightings were made of the elusive primate.

With so few remaining in the wild these new areas give hope for the species’ survival. NPC already works with many local communities, NGOs and governments throughout Amazonas and San Martin to promote conservation of this species and its habitat. What we now hope to do is extend our work to include these new populations.

We have begun working on a new reserve with the community of Delta, Amazonas. Unlike our other projects this one is not in the cloud forest area, but in the Dry Forest of the Marañon valley and will be the first protected area in this habitat type in Peru. To begin the work a team of NPC investigators went to identify the various species found in the area. We also carried out environmental education activities in the local school and have plans to build a tree nursery.

On the 18^th we received a visit from a local resident in La Esperanza that had found an injured falcon. The bird was hit by a stone from a slingshot and couldn’t fly; we immediately took it to the IKAMA Peru rescue center where we hope it will recover enough to be released back to the wild. The very next day we were told of a woolly monkey being kept as a pet in Moyobamba. After very quick coordination with the authorities both the regional Direccion de Recursos Naturales y Asuntos Ambientales Agrarios of San Martin and the Public Prosecutor were able to confiscate the monkey, a young female, in a very smooth and profesional operation and within two hours she was at the IKAMA Peru rescue center. At the center she will stay in quarantine for health checks, before she will be moved to live with a group of woolly monkeys and hopefully, in the future, released to the wild.  

 On the 2^nd of September we had the first event presenting our newly published book, an easy animal identification guide for the wildlife authorities of Amazonas and San Martin. The guide includes photographs, descriptions, CITES and IUCN categories, and common forms of traffic for all the wildlife species which have been recorded by NPC’s 3 year investigation into the illegal wildlife trade in Northeastern Peru.

The guide was made by NPC and funded by International Primate Protection League (IPPL-UK), and the event was organized by NPC and the Administracion Technica de Flora y Fauna Silvestre - Amazonas.

In Peru the authorities responsible for fighting the illegal wildlife trade suffer from a servere lack of human and economic resources, proper equiepment and training. This guide aims to give them the ability to identify species and an explanation of why their roll as wildlife authorities is so important.  

The Yellow Tailed Woolly Monkey Project enjoyed a ten day visit of the “Living on the Edge Productions”, who filmed the different aspects of the project. Everyone was very happy to take part in the film and excellent footage was captured of both human and non-human.

The crew also filmed the women of the AMAVLE, a communal association established by NPC, who recently got awarded a grant by development NGO “Sierra Norte” for the development of sustainable economic alternatives. These funds are used to purches equipment and further build the womens capacity in designing and producing handicrafts. The women were filmed telling of how they are hoping to find markets for their products which will give them well diserved economic indipendance from their husbands as well as an opertunity to promote the special biodiversity of the area by intagrating images of wildlife in their handicrafts.  

On the 12^th of February we were able to help in the confiscation of a sub-adult yellow tailed woolly monkey that was kept tied in a private garden in the town of Pedro Ruiz Gallo. The confiscation was led by the Jose Humberto Delgado from the Administracion Technica de Flora y Fauna Silvestre - Amazonas with the help of the local police of Pedro Ruiz Gallo and the public prosecuter of the area. The team did a very efficient and professional job and the monkey was safe in the IKAMA Peru rescue center less then 24 hours from when we first became aware of him in captivity. Allthough the monkey was kept by an old lady who did not delibaratly harm him, after spending almost 10 months in very unsuitable conditions he was in very poor shape. We are hoping that he will get better soon with the great care that he is getting at IKAMA Peru.

Also this month the same group of athorities managed to confiscate a tamarin monkey, an Andean night monkey, two capuchins and seven macaws. This exelent work by the authorities is taking the region a big step forward towards eliminating the ilegal wildlife trade.