ACA believes the world’s most diverse forests should also be its best known forests. With our three field stations and scholarship programs, we’re pioneering a new kind of tropical science—a research program that strengthens the local scientific community and shares data openly as it informs our conservation decisions.

Our stations offer a unique opportunity to explore and discover the outstanding biological and cultural diversity of the Andes-Amazon region. Spanning an altitudinal gradient from 250 to 3,500 meters (820 to 11,500 feet), along the eastern border of Manu National Park, these stations are a leading destination for scientists, educators, and students that pioneer a new kind of tropical science—a research and education program that strengthens the local scientific community, shares data openly, and informs conservation decisions.

Los Amigos Biological Station (CICRA)

Our Los Amigos Biological Station, commonly known by its Spanish acronym CICRA (Centro de Investigación y Capacitación Rio Los Amigos), is a 453 hectare (1,119 acre) research center in lowland Amazonian forest at the base of Peru’s southern Andes. The main campus sits on a high terrace at the confluence of the Madre de Dios and Los Amigos Rivers, right next door to the 360,000-acre Los Amigos Conservation Concession (LACC).

Established in 2000, CICRA has been a leader in scientific production per year of operation among biological stations in the Amazon. The station has hosted more than 213 research projects and produced 223 publications, including biological inventories of more than 30 types of organisms. Most research visitors at Los Amigos are associated with universities in Peru or abroad, and many receive funding through ACA’s and ACCA’s scholarship programs. For more information, see our CICRA Frequently Asked Questions sheet or see more details and forms.

CICRA is also a leading training site for young Amazonian scientists and conservationists. In addition to muddy-boots field experience in the LACC, these young scientists benefit from regular presentations by visiting scientists, involvement with the station’s long-term ecological monitoring program, specialized training as part of field courses, access to a large scientific library, and immersion in a vibrant scientific community.

Watch the video below from the Green Living Project to learn more about CICRA. »

Apply and register for your stay at CICRA here. For additional inquiries, email Ana Maria Chevarria at or learn how you can volunteer at CICRA.

CICRA at a Glance

Years since establishment: 12
Research projects hosted to date: 213
Number of grants awarded to work in Los Amigos: 124
Taxonomic groups inventoried to date: 31
Species recorded to date: 4,338
Peer-reviewed papers based on work at Los Amigos: 223
Number of field courses hosted at Los Amigos through 2009: 65
Miles of trails: >60

Facilities

CICRA offers visitors the resources necessary for cutting-edge science in tropical wilderness, including:

Accommodations and dining facilities for up to 60 visitors
Spacious labs and offices
A lecture hall and scientific library
A resident PhD-level science director
>60 miles of well-maintained, georeferenced trails
A 200-foot observation tower
A useful plant garden (pdf) with more than 600 marked plants
Satellite Internet access
Access to online scientific literature and databases
A digital database of plant species collected on site
In-house field guides to local plant and animal communities

Find information on scholarships for research at CICRA»

Find out more about CICRA on the ACCA site»

Online database of Amazon research in Madre de Dios

ACA scientists have been working to compile a database of everything ever written about the biology and conservation of the Peruvian department of Madre de Dios. This list of 2,225 references dating from 1567 to 2005 can be searched online through Atrium's Andes-Amazon Bibliographic Search Engine.

More than science is going on at CICRA—learn about the Los Amigos Art Program.

High resolution imaging

Winrock International has conducted overflights of the Los Amigos Conservation Concession to test their M3DADI high-resolution aerial sensing method. During these flights, the photo research team took aerial photos of the concession at 50cm resolution and various transects outside of the concession at 10cm. They covered 300,000 hectares and are now using the aerial photo information to develop a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the area.

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