Download the 2013 programme - Operation Wallacea

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PERU RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The Amazonian forests of Loreto, Peru are situated in the western Amazon basin and
harbour some of the greatest mammalian, avian, floral and fish diversity on Earth.
Operation Wallacea is joining a series of projects in this area that have been running since
1984 organised by Fund Amazonia and various conservation groups, universities and
government agencies. The vision of these projects is to set up long-term biodiversity
conservation using a combination of community-based and protected area strategies. The
research and conservation activities use an interdisciplinary approach to find a balance
between the needs of the indigenous people and the conservation of the animals and plants.
The objective for the 2013 season is to complete the annual low-water season monitoring
programmes for fish, caimans, turtles, macaws, exploited mammals and birds, dolphins,
manatees and primates at the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve.
The Pacaya Samiria National Reserve is the largest protected area in Peru spanning over
20,000 km 2 of tropical rainforest and is a truly exceptional wilderness area. Situated deep in
the rainforests of the western Amazon basin, at the point where the Amazon River begins its
long journey to the Atlantic Ocean, the reserve teems with aquatic and terrestrial wildlife.
The two major rivers that bind the reserve are the Ucayali and Marañon, they join to form
the Amazon proper right at the point where the reserve begins. The huge floodplains of
these majestic rivers have produced the low-lying flooded forests (Varzea) of the reserve,
much of which is accessible on foot during the dry season surveys. The core areas of the
reserve with no exploitation permitted are at the most upstream end. At the downstream
end, there are communities of Cocama Indians who are involved in reserve management
and managing resources in non-core zone areas sustainably.
The Samiria River that runs through the heart of the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve has a
particularly large population of river dolphins and is the last remaining refuge for the Amazon
manatee. Giant river otters are also returning and every year more are sighted in the rivers,
lakes and channels. There are 12 species of primates in the Reserve, many of which are
commonly sighted on the terrestrial and aquatic transects. Macaws and wading birds are very
abundant, as are the game birds. Peccaries, deer, tapir and capybara are also on the increase and
are often spotted during the terrestrial survey work, particularly when the water levels are high.
PERU
The Pacaya Samiria National Reserve is working with the local Cocama Indians to
guarantee that both the natural and human worlds can co-exist in harmony. Whilst their
dress has changed, the Cocama Indians still live as they did centuries ago. They fish and
hunt for meat, collect forest fruits and have small slash and burn gardens. They travel in
small dug out canoes and live in thatched-roof houses made from trees and palm fronds of
the nearby forest. The work that the project is doing is helping to develop management
plans that incorporate both the needs of the Cocama people and the conservation of wildlife
in the Samiria river basin.