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NEWSLETTER
September 2004
Bringing you the latest reports from the Cloud Forests to Los Amigos and Beyond
This newsletter presents the latest updates from our field researchers
and staff on our conservation efforts in Peru and Bolivia. We look forward
to sending you this quarterly bulletin as we continue to innovate and
expand our conservation programs in this ever-changing environment. For
more information about Amazon Conservation Association, please write to
us at info@amazonconservation.org.
Achieving our Conservation Goals
As we head into autumn, we have many successes - great and small - to
share with you, and news of changes to come. This issue highlights several
ongoing, new and growing initiatives for ACA, all parts of a larger strategy
to make conservation in the Amazon work for people and to safeguard the
unique biological diversity of the Amazon headwaters.
From the highland cloud forests in Peru to the Los Amigos Conservation
Concession, to the Brazil nut stands in the lowlands and on to the Amazonian
savannas of Bolivia, ACA has made great strides this year. This issue
looks at a few of our most special achievements so far this year: advances
in our ambitious Cloud Forest Program; expansion of the facilities at
the Los Amigos Research Center; an exciting new develop-ment in the Los
Amigos Conservation Concession; groundbreaking internationally endorsed
certification for Brazil nut growers, and important scientific survey
work being done in the last pristine Amazonian savannas.
A Victory for Brazil Nut Grower in Peru
In August, ACA's Brazil Nut Program achieved the first internationally endorsed forest management certification for its partner Brazil nut producers in Peru. This achievement culminates years of hard work in organization, legalization, mapping, conflict resolution, and training for Brazil nut producers and their representative organizations.
The program has so far reached over 120 growers in Peru and we are seeking to expand this to work with all of the growers in the project area (please see the map at the bottom of page).
In the process, ACA's intensive, on-the-ground efforts led to the resolution
of many conflicts surrounding access to Brazil nut tree stands and over-lapping
institutional jurisdictions. Using new technology such as GPS and GIS
applications, and opening unprecedented dialog between growers, their
representative organizations, and government agencies, ACA's work led
not only to formal and permanent access to these tree stands, but also
the added value from certification. Certifiers accredited by Forest Stewardship
Council (FSC) - one of the premier green product certification organizations
in the world - carried out an extensive evaluation of Brazil nut forest
management practices and the entire chain of custody under standards developed
by ACA. The result is a benefit for growers, the forests and consumers
who seek to use their purchasing power to support conservation.
Planning is under way for an international event to mark this milestone, to be held in Puerto Maldonado in early December.
 |
Left: Brazil nut growers will now be rewarded for sound management practices with better acess to international markets. |
Amazonian Savannas Program Under Way
The Pampas del Heath in northern Bolivia is the largest remaining undis-turbed Amazonian grassland plain. They are home to such endemic species as the Maned wolf and Marsh deer. West of this area, the Peruvian pampas are shrinking as the surrounding forests grow and spread into the grasslands. The causes of this phenomenon are not completely understood. However, without appropriate management practices, the pampas will rapidly disappear. To avoid the loss of the pampas, ACA scientists studying the Pampas del Heath to improve our understanding of the ecological factors that create and maintain Amazonian savannas.
Approximately two-thirds of the Pampas del Heath is located within Bolivia's Madidi National Park. However, there is intense pressure to build a road, opening the region to increased immigration. New settlements can be a serious threat to natural forests because the result is often extensive deforestation. The combination of these pressures represents a threat not only to the pampas and forests outside Madidi National Park, but also to the park itself.
To begin addressing these issues, Amazon Conservation Association scientists are working to increase our understanding of pampas by:
- Improving our understanding of how pampas and surrounding forests affect each other
- Identifying the mechanisms that drive pampas to convert to shrubs and forests
- Supporting the protection of the northern portion of Madidi National Park
- Collaborating with communities and organizations interested in the conservation of the region
- Identifying and pursuing opportunities to increase the number of acres designated as conservation areas for both existing parks and concessions as well as new land areas.
The findings from these efforts will lead to conservation of the Pampas
del Heath by reducing potential adverse effects from development projects
in the area, so that they may continue to exist today and in the future.
Continued Growth at the Los Amigos Research Station
Research at Los Amigos is in full swing, and during the year the complex grew to accommodate an ever-increasing population of scientists in long-term projects. A new dormitory was added, the airstrip is near completion, and water, electrical and internet facilities were all upgraded. CM2, originally conceived as a rustic control post for monitoring river activity, was also upgraded to support long-term research projects. Nigel Pitman, ACA's Research Coordinator at Los Amigos, shared his reflections in a recent e-mail to friends:
As I write this letter we're in our second day of rain, and the Madre de Dios is starting to rise again after the dry season's low water. CICRA is tracking these seasonal changes more closely than ever, with a new automated weather station that came online in late August and now records temperature, humidity, rainfall, and solar radiation in the station clearing at 30-minute intervals.
The trails and labs were bustling with 12 different research projects in September. Four of these are part of ACA's scholarship program for Peruvian undergraduates: Juana Suárez is studying the ecology of microteiid lizards, Michael Vega is documenting the distribution and diversity of epiphytes, Therany Gonzáles is surveying regeneration in tree-fall gaps, and Jorge Carrillo is inventorying lichen communities.
Meanwhile, three long-term projects at the station continue to make headway, despite the fact that their laboratories are full of rubble. To improve working conditions at the station, we're lowering the lab windows to let in more light, planning new work tables and shelves, and mapping out researcher office space on the second floor of the lab. Amidst all the hammering, the WWF areas project continues to track a menagerie of radio-collared animals: 12 macaws, 12 white-lipped peccaries, and an ocelot. The project's camera traps have identified four different jaguars in the forest around the station, two of which were sighted by researchers in September: one at the landing strip and one swimming across the Amigos River.
As I come to the end of this letter the sun has begun peeking out
from behind the rainclouds. We have a full boat coming up from Puerto
Maldonado this afternoon, and its arrival will bring the number of people
at the station to nearly 50, including staff.
The "New" Neighbors in the Los Amigos Conservation Concession
Back in June, ACA personnel and researchers working in the Los Amigos Conservation Concession found evidence of a group of indigenous people in voluntary isolation. They have shunned contact with the outside world, and have lived in isolation on a Reserve created by the Peruvian Government, that borders the Los Amigos Conservation Concession. Due to real and persistent threats from illegal loggers and hunters, they had not been observed on the Piedras and Amigos rivers - where they traditionally harvest turtle eggs during the dry season from June-August - since 2001, before the Los Amigos Conservation Concession was established. The fact that they now feel safe enough to carry on this tradition in the Amigos River is an indicator of conservation success for the Concession. ACA is now working with indigenous rights groups, the Peruvian Government, and experts to ensure their safety and protection during this annual activity, and to ensure that the Conservation Concession remains an active buffer for their territory.
Where We Work…
ACA's focus begins in the highland cloud forests of southeastern Peru and continues down to the lowland rain-forests on the Los Amigos River near Manu National Park. We are also beginning research work in some of the last remaining Amazonian savannahs in Bolivia. Our programs emphasize research, sustainable development, and conservation concessions.
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