Conservation International

One of the most biologically important ecosystems in the world is now protected with an official decree signed Sept. 5 by Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori. The decree doubles the size of Bahuaja-Sonene National Park to cover more than 2.7 million acres in the rich Amazonian lowland forests at the base of the Andes Mountains, and it creates the adjoining 627,380-acre Tambopata National Reserve as well as a 647,000-acre buffer zone.

“This is a magnificent victory for conservation. It reflects the increasingly complicated challenge of conserving ecosystems and the power of partnerships. This event involved years of consensus building among all stakeholders, particularly the local people whose lives are directly affected,” said Peter A. Seligmann, Chairman and CEO of Conservation International (CI).

CI has been working with local groups and Peru’s government to protect Peru’s southeastern tropical forests since 1989, focusing specifically on the Tambopata region where the park is located. Partnering with local conservationists, CI’s baseline research contributed evidence of the region’s outstanding biological importance.

Scientists consider this area, which is within the Tropical Andes Hotspot, to rank number one among the “hottest of the biodiversity hotspots,” because of its extremely high species diversity. As many as 550 bird species and more than 1,200 butterfly species have been recorded in a single locality within the region.

Collectively, the 25 hotspots claim more than 60 percent of all global species diversity within just 1.4 percent of the Earth’s terrestrial land surface. “We are tremendously gratified to see these many years of effort on the part of all concerned arrive at this extraordinary result,” said CI Vice President Carlos Ponce, who directs CI’s Andean Program. “The key has been consistent and persistent effort, as well as an enormous amount of local participation.”

The area incorporated into the park was recently relinquished by a consortium of oil and gas companies that had obtained exploratory drilling rights in one of the most fragile regions within the hotspot. The consortium carried out a comprehensive seismic program in the region between 1996 and 1997, and operated one exploratory well from 1998 to 1999, with minimal impact to the area. During the exploratory phase, CI carried out field evaluations and advised the consortium on ways to minimize the potential ecological impact. In addition, during negotiations for initial creation of Bahuaja-Sonene in 1996, which then set aside 802,750 acres in protection, CI recommended that any area released by the petroleum companies should be incorporated into the national park.

The park is adjacent to Bolivia’s Madidi National Park, placing it within one of the most critical areas for conservation within the Andean slope region straddling Peru and Bolivia. Combined with Madidi, the recent decree now gives permanent protection to a contiguous area of more than 7.4 million acres of tremendously rich tropical species habitat.