The National Reserve of Pacaya-Samiria

THE RESERVE OF PACAYA-SAMIRIA IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PROTECTED AREAS IN PERU BECAUSE OF ITS SIZE AND BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND WHERE SEVERAL RIVERS WITH A VARIETY OF AQUATIC AND LAND SPECIES CONVERGE. UNFORTUNATELY, MANY OF THESE SPECIES ARE IN DANGER.

Data:
- Located between the basin of the marañon river and the ucayali

  river in the northern region of Loreto
- The name is given by the rivers that flow in it: the Pacaya river

  which ends into the Ucayali and the Samiria which flows from the

  Marañon
- Declared protected natural area in 1982
- Surface area 2.150.700 hectares

A CHANGING LAND
Pacaya-samiria is the largest protected flooded area in the world. In the rainy season, (usually between April and October) is known as “growing” , which means that the Amazon river overflows and covers 85% of the land at the reserve. This special situation has changed the ecosystem into an aquatic field. When the intense rain stops and rivers go back to their original beds, they leave a tangle of bends, lagoons, and small rivers. Because of this natural phenomenon, the shape of the land changes constantly every year.

HUMAN ACTIVITY
It is calculated that about 100.000 people live in the flooded jungle and they take advantage of the natural resources to feed themselves and receive some economical benefits. Due to its condition as a national reserve, the exploitation of natural resources is controlled by the authorities and supervised by the government to protect the ecosystems. Besides hunting and fishing, which is done by locals for subsistence, the most important economic activities are tree cutting and exploitation of diesel. (1) A local person sails in his canoe by the Samiria River. The river fluvials are the principle ways of transport. (2). A little girl carries a local fruit called shapaja, a common tree in the area.

THE PAICHE
An Amazonian river fish, the paiche (arapaima gigas), is the biggest animal that lives in the rivers of the Amazon and one of the most appreciated as a source of food. Some of them can be 2 meters long and weigh about 150 kilos. Due to there physique, they require air and they have developed besides the natural gills a couple of false lungs used to take in all the oxygen possible from the air, because most of the Amazonian river is acidic, turbid, and poorly oxidized. The meat of the paiche is in great demand, which has generated an uncontrolled amount of fishing, thereby leaving the fish almost to the point of extinction. In order to protect this resource, a closed season has been established between august and march. Another policy is that no one can fish a specimen smaller than a meter long. Nevertheless, in several markets in Iquitos, you can find paiches smaller than a meter, which shows that the law is not being followed.

THE CHARAPA
This turtle (podocnemis expanda) is another Amazonian symbol. It resides in the rivers is one of the largest fresh water turtles in the world. The charapa turtle can be as long as one meter long and weighs 50 kilos. The smallest male is 50 centimetres long. Its food consists of seeds, fruits, leaves and bone material (to obtain calcium, which is important in the egg production. The charapa is also in danger of extinction. Its meat and eggs are appreciated by the locals, and the hunting in many places has been out of control. For that reason, it has become one of the almost disappeared species in the Amazon. However, since some decades ago, two enthusiastic naturalists, Pekka and Maria Soini, are working to recover the charapa and its relatives, such as the cupizo and tericaya through egg incubation and new born turtles preservation. The Local Support Committee of the Reserve Pacaya-Samiria (COREPASA) is doing a similar effort along the Samiria River.

THE ANACONDA
It is also known as yacumama, anaconda (Eunectes murinus) is the biggest and most well known boa in the Amazon. There have been many legends and superstitions, even literary books such as "Yacu-Mama", from Ventura García Calderón. The adult anaconda reaches ten meters long and weighs 250 kilos. Its appearance is amazing; however it is not a poisonous snake. Although it is considered a harmless species, there have been occasions where is attacked humans. It lives in an aquatic environment and it is fed by mammals and any other animals that is can reach.
The anacondas have a bad reputation, but actually they do not frequently attack human beings, in fact, it is just the opposite. Another well known species in the jungle is the mantona (Boa constrictor), the most numerous in the jungle, while its black skin lets it camouflage between the leaves. Due to its inoffensive character, the natives use it to control the rodents. Also known, although not in big numbers, are the Emerald boa (Corallus caninus) and the Rainbow boa (Epicrathes cenchria).

THE RIVER DOLPHINS
Two dolphin varieties inhabit the Amazon: the grey dolphin or bufeo plomo (Sotalia fluviatilis) and pink dolphin (Inia geoffroensis), which has a long beak and big head. Their local names are boutu y yacu-runa.
The natives attribute to this species some magical powers, such as the ability of making women pregnant when they get closer to the rivers at night. There hunting is a common practice that has caused damage to its population. The yacu-runa or pink dolphin is a species of cetacean not frequently seen in the Amazon River.

THE BIRDS
As in the entire Amazon region, Pacaya-Samiria has a lot of birds. The groups are impressive due to their variety and beauty. Those to be highlighted are the seven colors (Tangará chilenis), which is very colourful, and the big rambler (Xiphorhynchus guttatus), that almost always is hidden in different places of the jungle. There is a great variety of parrots and parakeets like the one in the picture. The parrots and auroras (Amazona ochrocephala) are common pets in the jungle, even in some houses in the city. Their feathers are completely green, although some of them have a yellow forehead.

FLORA
In Pacaya-Samiria, they have registered more than 1.200 species of plants grouped in more than a hundred families. Between them, it is possible to mention the orchids, which have been found more than 22 species, and the palm tree, 29 varieties. On the other hand, the aguaje fruit is well appreciated by human beings and animals. Besides, it is possible to find a great variety of medical plants and big trees that have an enormous potential, such as the lupuna- and even rubber trees, which had been widely exploited during the first decades of the XX century.
Some species of common plants in Amazon (1)Flor de cacao silvestre (2) aguaje fruit (3) Victoria Regia, a typical plant founded in Amazon rivers (4) Platanillo flowers.

THE NATIONAL RESERVE ALLPAHUAYO - MISHANA
This natural reserve is also located in Loreto, province of Maynas, twenty kilometres from the city of Iquitos, and you can get there by road. It has been a protected natural area since 1999 and its total extension is 57.667,43 hectares. The protected ecosystem is very peculiar: Forest of mud and wild flowers on white sand which receives numerous species of flora and fauna, most of which are not known by scientists. There are at least a dozen known bird species or “specialists” on the white sand forest, some of them are unique in the world. Therefore, the reserve’s function is to protect the Nanay river basin, which is the source that provides water to Iquitos city. In Allpahuayo-Mishana, there have been found more than 1.900 vegetable species, among the, around one hundred whose distribution is very restricted. The tourism is good because Iquitos is very near.

ACCESS TO PACAYA-SAMIRIA
The closest towns are Nauta and Requena. From there, some tourists are allowed to get to the Reserve, paying a fee first. The only access is by river. There are some hostels around the reserve. The temperature varies from 22 °C to 35 °C and rainfall is permanent, although the most intense is between May and February. It is recommendable to take light clothes, hat or cap, sunglasses, binoculars, sun block, repellent, and boots. Besides, it is necessary to have the yellow fever vaccination.

National Park Yanachaga - Chemillen

THIS PARK IS RELATIVELY SMALL, HAS A GREAT GEOGRAPHIC VARIETY AND EXTENDS FROM THE HIGHLANDS AT 3.643 METERS ABOVE SEA LEVEL, TO THE LOWER JUNGLE OF THE AMAZON. FOR THIS REASON, IT IS ONE OF THE PROTECTED NATURAL AREAS THAT HAS THE BIGGEST VARIETY OF ECOSYSTEMS IN THE COUNTRY AND ALL AROUND THE WORLD

Data:
- Located in province of Oxapampa, region of Pasco.
- Surface area: 122.000 hectares.
- Declared National Park in 1986.

BIODIVERSITY
Yanachaga-Chemillen is located in one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world. It is located in the eastern slopes of the Andean mountain range, which is part of its territory, between the summits and beginning of the Andean plains. More than one million species of birds have been registered. In the Park, there are more than 456 bird species and a hundred mammals, such as the puma, jaguar, sachavaca (in the picture), the short deer (forty centimetres high) and the anteater. The flora is also abundant. At the present time, 2.584 species have been found, including 500 varieties of orchids, dozens of ferns and wild plants such as relatives of the potato and olluco.

THE CAT´S CLAW
The Cat`s Claw (Uncaria tonticntosa) is one of the most well known of the medicinal plants. It is a climbing type of plant that grows up to 15 meters high and is located in the Amazon region, along the eastern flank of the Andean mountain range, between 200 and 800 meters above sea level. Its name, cat claw, comes from the thorns that are present in the young roots. It is very appreciated due to its capacity, which is recognized by scientists, in reinforcing the immunological system and as a natural antibiotic. It is also used in the treatment of cancer.

THE FOREST
In Yanachaga-Chemillen there are four types of forests: in the upper areas, is the short forest and pajonales; then the cloud forest, which is very dense and has a lot of vegetation including ferns and lichens, followed by the mountain forest or ceja de selva (upper jungle), and finally the tropical forest in the lowest area down to the River Palcazo.

ACCESS
The National Park Yanacliaga-Chemillen is for tourists, and it also has camping areas. The best season to do this is between July and August, when locals celebrate Oxapampa and Pozuzo anniversaries. People can take buses to Oxapampa to get there. The entrance ticket is five soles per person.

POZUZO
Also located in the province of Oxapampa, Pozuzo is another attraction in the region. Its population are descendants of people from Germany and Austria who arrived to Peru in the mid XIX century. They live on farms and keep their culture intact.
It was President Ramón Castilla who promoted the colonization of the jungle region to spur its economic growth. This Project was accepted by Baron Cosme Damián Shutz von Holzhausen, who had lived in Peru for many years and convinced Castilla to bring Austria- German colonists. The proposal was accepted on May 29, 1857 and a boat set sail from the port of Amberes (Belgium) with three hundred people, who finally arrived to Huacho. After two years of a boring and exhausting hike, they arrived to the Promised Land. On July, 25 1859 the colony of Pozuzo was founded. From the three hundred families that departed from Europe, only 174 arrived there. A typical family from Pozuzo. (2) The houses, although adapted to the jungle, conserve European features.

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