Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Regional Conservation Area
Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Regional Conservation Area | |
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Área de Conservación Regional Comunal Tamshiyacu Tahuayo | |
IUCN category VI (protected area with sustainable use of natural resources) | |
Dawn on the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Regional Conservation Area. | |
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Location | Maynas, Requena, and Ramón Castilla provinces, Loreto, Peru |
Nearest city |
Iquitos Nauta |
Coordinates | 4°17′37″S 73°14′10″W / 4.293519°S 73.236237°WCoordinates: 4°17′37″S 73°14′10″W / 4.293519°S 73.236237°W[1] |
Area | 420,080.25 hectares (1,621.9389 sq mi) |
Established | May 15, 2009 (by Decreto Supremo 010-2009-MINAM) |
Governing body | Regional Government of Loreto |
http://www.regionloreto.gob.pe |
Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Regional Conservation Area (ACRCTT; Spanish: Área de Conservación Regional Comunal Tamshiyacu Tahuayo) is a protected area located south east of Iquitos, extending over the Peruvian department of Loreto, provinces of Maynas (district of Fernando Lores), Ramón Castilla (district of Yavarí) and Requena (district of Sapuena and district of Yaquerana). It was established by the Peruvian Ministry of Environment (MINAM; Spanish: Ministerio del Ambiente) on May 15, 2009. The reserve is managed and funded by the Regional Government of Loreto.
Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Regional Conservation Area spans an area of 4,200.8 km2 (420,080.25 ha; 1'038,040.9 acre; 1,621.94 sq miles) comprising floodable and upland forest of the Peruvian Amazon. It is known for its abundant wildlife.
It has high levels of biodiversity. Hundreds of species of mammals, primates, birds, fish and reptiles have been documented, including several that are endemic as well as either endangered or threatened.
The reserve was established to conserve ecosystems of upland and floodable rainforests, as well as ecological and evolutionary processes of the area, guaranteeing the sustainable use of the wildlife by the local population.
Tamshiyacu Tahuayo has several research and tourist activities focused on wildlife-spotting, including camping, hiking, boating, bird watching and fishing.
History
Much research has been conducted in this area since the mid-1970s. Between 1988 and 1990 the importance of conserving the area was highlighted due its unique and vast biodiversity , especially the high diversity of primates as the threatened bald uakari (Cacajao calvus ucayalii), endemic to Peru, as well as other species recently recorded as the Ranitomeya uakarii. at During the 1980s, in order to stop the exploitation and degradation of natural resources that started around 1970, local villages of the Alto Tahuayo River and the Blanco River took actions to protect their resources. This local organization influenced the establishment of the reserve.
Villagers later joined and with some researchers from the United States, University of Kent, The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Peruvian Instituto Veterinario de Investigaciones Tropicales y de Altura (IVITA), and the Rainforest Conservation Fund (RCF) to start a program of sustainable development.
On May 21, 2007, the Regional Government of Loreto signed the Ordenanza Regional 011-2007-GRL-CR that approved the technical proposal for the establishment of the protected area. Finally, on May 15, 2009, Ministry of Environment signed the Decreto Supremo 010-2009-MINAM, law that created the Regional Conservation Area Tamshiyacu Tahuayo.
Geography
ACRCTT is located within the Department of Loreto, in the north of Peru. It is 420,080.25 ha (4,200.8 km2; 1’038,040.9 acres) in area.
The reserve comprises rivers, lakes, canals, oxbow lakes, swamps, several types of upland and lowland forests including varzea, igapo, and terra firme.
Biology and ecology
ACRCTT has many world records on diversity of plants, primates and mammals species.
Flora
ACRCTT has habitat that supports a known 1650 species of plants, however it is estimated that there are 2500-3500 species of plants in ACRCTT. It is possible to find trees such cedar (Cedrela odorata), mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), and others.
Fauna
The US Chicago Field Museum’s Rapid Biological Inventory, found in the ACRCTT 240 species of fish, 77 species of amphibians, 45 species of reptiles, 400 species of birds, and 39 species of terrestrial mammals, including 14 species of primates.
Some of the wildlife that inhabits the ACRCTT are the are monkey as the huapo Colorado or bald uakari (Cacajao calvus ucayalii), the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus), the red howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus); the pink dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), the grey dolphin (Sotalia fluviatilis), the brown-throated sloth (Bradypus variegatus), the capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), the spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus), the black caiman (Melanosuchus niger), the South American tapir (Tapirus terrestris), the giant river otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus), jaguar (Panthera onca), the Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis), the wattled curassow (Crax globulosa), the hoazin (Opisthocomus hoazin), the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), among others.
Team of the Rapid Biological Inventory number 11 by the US Chicago Field Museum in 2003 recorded the following:[2]
Taxonomy | Species found | Species estimated |
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Amphibians | 77 | 115 |
Birds | 400 | 550 |
Plants | 1,650 | 2,500-3,500 |
Terrestrial mammals | 39 | 150 |
Fish | 240 | >400 |
Reptiles | 45 | 100 |
Climate
ACRCTT is located on the Amazon rainforest, near the Amazon River. This protected area is located on the lowland jungle (Spanish: selva baja) also known as Omagua region or Amazon basin. It has annual temperatures ranging from 25 °C (77 °F) to 33 °C (91 °F) and an annual rainfall of 3,000 millimetres (120 in)
Tourism and activities
Although ACRCTT it is possible to visit year-round, the busiest season for visitors is from July to August, during the low river season, which is also when mosquitoes are least active. This is also the high tourist season throughout Peru.
Similar to the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, ACRCTT is focused on wildlife viewing, but is not as popular and less visited than Pacaya-Samiria. As of 2015, just 4 lodges are operating on ACRCTT, from affordable and comfortable as the Curassow Amazon Lodge to expensive as the Tahuayo Lodge; all of them have private bungalows with bathrooms and no electricity. Most visitors access the protected area via Iquitos but also sometimes from Nauta.
Visitors partake in boating on rivers, lagoons and oxbow, hiking and camping, these activities are focused on observe wildlife. Also travelers may fish and navigate the Amazon River.
ACRCTT has great biodiversity and spans over an important flyway of migratory birds hence in important for bird watching and bird photography also.
See also
- List of protected areas of Peru
- Peruvian Amazon
- Tourism in Peru
- Iperu, tourist information and assistance
References
- ↑ Comunal Tamshiyacu Tahuayo protectedplanet.net
- ↑ "Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Community Reserve". November 2, 2014. Retrieved 2015-03-19.
Bibliography
- The Field Museum (2003), Rapid Biological Inventories 11 Peru: Yavarí. Rapid Biological Inventory 11
- Puertas, Eloy (1999), Hunting Effort Analysis In Northeastern Peru: The Case Of The Reserva Comunal Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo, University of Florida (1999).
External links
- Law of establishment of the ACRCTT
- Regional Government of Loreto
- Information of the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve
- A formal tour operator website with visitor information
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