Where In The World
With 84 of the 104 known life zones on the planet, Peru is one of the 17 megadiverse countries on earth. Overall it ranks in the top four, and is first in birds with 1,701 species, second in primates with 34 species, third in mammals with 361 species, and fifth in reptiles and amphibians with 297 and 251 species, respectively.
In the south of the country lies the province of Madre de Dios, with a population of 100,000 and which is dominated by lowland Amazon rainforest considered by many to be one of the most biodiverse regions of the Amazon, if not the world. The provincial capital of Puerto Maldonado is already recognised by the Peruvian Congress as the Biodiversity Capital of Peru.
In Madre de Dios are located the two protected areas at the centre of our research work, the Tambopata National Reserve (TNR), created in 2000 with an area of 274,690 hectares, and the Bahuaja Sonene National Park (BSNP), first created in 1996 and subsequently extended in 2001 with a current area of 1.09 million hectares. Both protected areas derive their name from the Tambopata River, which the local native Ese'eja people call Bahuaja. The river is born high up in the Andes in the Sandia region of Puno (close to lake Titicaca) and subsequently flows northwards until its confluence with the Madre de Dios River at the town of Puerto Maldonado.
Come join us and find out what it means to have over 1.3 million hectares of pristine Amazon rainforest wilderness on your doorstep.
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The Amazon
Mongabay: At one time the Amazon River flowed westward, perhaps as part of a proto-Congo (Zaire) river system from the interior of present day Africa when the continents were joined as part of Gondwana. Fifteen million years ago, the Andes were formed by the collision of the South American plate with the Nazca plate. The rise of the Andes and the linkage of the Brazilian and Guyana bedrock shields, blocked the river and caused the Amazon to become a vast inland sea. Gradually this inland sea became a massive swampy, freshwater lake and the marine inhabitants adapted to life in freshwater. For example, over 20 species of stingray, most closely related to those found in the Pacific Ocean, can be found today in the freshwaters of the Amazon.
Mongabay: An estimated 70-90 percent of life in the rainforest exists in the trees, above the shaded forest floor. Primary tropical rainforest is vertically divided into at least five layers: the overstory, the canopy, the understory, the shrub layer, and the forest floor. Each layer has its own unique plant and animal species interacting with the ecosystem around them. The overstory refers to the crowns of emergent trees which soar 20-100 feet above the rest of the canopy. The canopy is the dense ceiling of closely spaced trees and their branches, while the understory is the term for more widely spaced, smaller tree species and juvenile individuals that form a broken layer below the canopy. The shrub layer is characterized by shrubby species and juvenile trees that grow only 5-20 feet off the forest floor. The forest floor is the ground layer of the forest made up of the trunks of trees, fungus, and low-growing vegetation. These layers are not always distinct and can vary from forest to forest, but serve as a good model of the vegetative and mechanical structures of the forest.
Mongabay: Tropical rainforests support the greatest diversity of living organisms on Earth. Although they cover less than 2 percent of Earth's surface, they house an estimated 50 percent of all life on the planet. The immense numbers of creatures that inhabit the tropical rainforests are so great-an estimated 5-50 million species- they are almost incomprehensible. The sheer range of numbers alone suggests the limited extent of our knowledge of these forests. For example, whereas temperate forests are often dominated by a half dozen tree species or fewer that make up 90 percent of the trees in the forest, a tropical rainforest may have more than 480 tree species in a single hectare (2.5 acres). A single bush in the Amazon may have more species of ants than the entire British Isles. This diversity of rainforests is not a haphazard event, but is the result of a series of unique circumstances.
Top | Where In The World | The Amazon | Explorer's Inn | Reserva Amazonica | Sachavacayoc | TRC | Others
Explorer's Inn
Located on the southern bank of the Tambopata River (12o 50' 15" S, 69o 17' 30" W) within the Tambopata National Reserve (TNR), at the confluence with the La Torre River, and at a distance of 30 km SSW of Puerto Maldonado, Explorer's Inn was built in 1975. Locally known by its acronym "EI" this lodge was the first ecotourism venture to operate along the Tambopata River and was the location where the first protected area (Tambopata Reserve Zone, TRZ) and biodiversity inventories where undertaken in Tambopata, which in turn led in 1990 to the establishment of the Tambopata Candamo Reserved Zone (TCRZ) - the progenitor to today's Tambopata National Reserve and Bahuaja Sonene National Park.
Through its Resident Naturalist Program, which offers free room and board to graduate biologists in exchange for wildlife monitoring and tourist educational activities, EI has been very successful in combining tourism with biological research. Investigations undertaken in the late 1970s and early 1980s found that this area is unique and harbours particularly high levels of species richness. It still holds world records for butterfly, dragonfly and bird species. The lodge manages a total of 50 km of trails, the oldest and most extensive in the area. A total of nine distinct forest types can be clearly recognised around this lodge.
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Reserva Amazonica
Located on the northern bank of the Madre de Dios River (12o 32' 30" S, 69o 03' 20" W), at a distance of 15 km from Puerto Maldonado, Reserva Amazonica (RA) was built and began operating in 1976, shortly after Explorer's Inn (see above). It was the first tourist lodge to be built along the Madre de Dios River, and similarly to Explorer's Inn was given approval by the Peruvian government to establish a private reserve around the lodge totalling 10 km2. The status of the reserve prohibited the extraction or conversion of natural resources by the local inhabitants. Although in the late 1980s the government failed to renew the reserve status and subsequently some of the forested lands within the reserve were colonised by subsistence farmers who converted some areas to agriculture, the lodge was able to re-establish a reserve once again in 2004.
A significant amount of biodiversity research has also been undertaken at this lodge. This research, much of it complementary to that undertaken at EI, further reaffirmed the biodiversity importance of the Tambopata area and was cited as one of the reasons for establishing the TCRZ. With a tourist trail system around the lodge of 10 km long, it is the least extensive in the area. The lodge boasts a unique canopy walkway that is managed by the Inkaterra Asociacion, a not-for-profit organisation affiliated to RA. Proceeds from access fees paid by tourists from RA and other lodges goes toward conservation actions in the local area.
Top | Where In The World | The Amazon | Explorer's Inn | Reserva Amazonica | Sachavacayoc | TRC | Others
Sachavacayoc Centre
The Sachavacayoc Centre, located on the southern bank of the Tambopata River (12o 51' 15' S, 69o 22' 00" W), was built in 1994 by Newton College, an elite international school based in Lima, as a field station where high school students from this and other schools in Lima and Latin America could spend a few weeks each year doing fieldwork and practical sessions based on environmental science, geography and conservation.
The Centre is managed as a not-for-profit organization and protects a swathe of forest along the Tambopata River and inland towards the Sachavacayoc Lake. Sachavacayoc means Tapir Lake in Quechua and indeed the area has a relatively high abundance of tapirs and other ungulates largely due to the presence of numerous large mammal clay licks or salt licks known as collpas. The Centre is also frequently used for school trips from schools in Puerto Maldonado and as a training centre.
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Tambopata Research Centre (TRC)
The Tambopata Research Center, located in the Upper Tambopata River area (13o 08' 10" S, 69o 36' 40" W) within the Tambopata National Reserve and only 2 km from the Bahuaja Sonene National Park, lies alongside the largest macaw clay lick (collpa) in the world, which boasts near daily visits from 14 species of parrot and macaw many of which are endangered in the rest of their range. A significant amount of parrot and macaw research is undertaken at the TRC and it also has one of the best sighting successes for predators, including jaguar, short-eared dog and harpy eagle.
Top | Where In The World | The Amazon | Explorer's Inn | Reserva Amazonica | Sachavacayoc | TRC | Others
The Ceiba tree witnessed the warrior fall to the ground and rose up to fight fearlessly against the demon. Branches fell from almighty heights, spells cut through the air and with a thunderous crack, the big tree too began to fall. With one final gust of energy, the tree swung its fall towards the Chullachaqui and landed straight on top of him. The demon did not die, but was forever trapped inside the trunk of the tree. Furious for losing the battle and for becoming trapped inside, the demon threw one final spell, turning the princess into a Tinamou, the large ground bird that calls into the evening dawn. If the demon could not be with the princess, he would not allow her to be with anyone else. - Caty Cosmopolis (Peru) 
The Tambopata area of the Peruvian Amazon where the project works is an incredible place for travellers of all ages to explore; I was able to arrange a trip to the Andes mountains where I trekked to Machu Picchu, one of the new seven wonders of the world. Other volunteers on the project used their time to travel to Puno to explore Lake Titicaca, to Arequipa to see the Colca Canyon; there really is a whole host of spectacular sights to see either before or after your FFT experience and all within easy reach of the FFT basecamp town of Puerto Maldonado. I recommend this project to anyone looking for a great learning experience; fantastic wildlife, great people, beautiful surroundings, everything you need from a trip to the Amazon rainforest! - James Bird (England)
I'll admit it: I'm a city guy. I've lived in the suburbs around Seattle my entire life and have never done anything remotely similar to living in the Amazon jungle for five weeks. In fact, "camping" for me is at most a 12-hour, overnight activity where I sit around a fire and roast marshmallows with friends... ...I've only been here for a week, but it feels like so much longer. I've learned so many things and met so many cool people. In these next four weeks, I'm looking forward to having an unforgettable experience, finding new things in the field and seeing what cool pictures the mosquito bites on my arm can form. - Dennis Tat (USA)
