Meet Denisse Mateo, whose thesis research will help unlock secrets of the spectacled bears’ diet. The 30-year-old student is pursuing her Master’s at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, and is one of six Peruvian university students who received a research scholarship from ACA in 2014. To date, ACA has provided research scholarships to more than 225 students through the generous support of foundations and donors like you. 

Thanks to this scholarship to study at Wayqecha, she will be able to spend more than a month tracking what the (mostly) vegetarian bears consume, comparing her findings with field research on the same topic in northern Peru. 

Here is just a small sample of ACA’s Q&A with her:

Q: How did you become involved with the theme you’re studying? Why does it interest you?

A: The topic interested me because in a prior study, I was able to find fruits and seeds conserved in excrement. They were not deteriorated. That is why I was interested in evaluating the quality of these seeds, and evaluating the function of the spectacled bear as a seed disperser in montane forest, contributing to the regeneration of the montane forest in Wayqecha.

Q: What does it mean to you to receive this scholarship?

A: It’s a joy, because I can do research on the spectacled bear. It’s exciting, because I will do my research in a place that seemed impossible for me, Wayqecha…It’s an opportunity to continue growing as a biologist.

In May 2013, all USAID funding was suspended in Bolivia, which jeopardized ACA’s conservation and sustainable livelihood projects with the Tacana. Thanks to generous donor support, we were able to not only recover needed funds to continue the work planned from the USAID project, but also expand it. This summer, a group of ACA board members and staff from ACA, Conservación Amazónica–ACCA, and ACEAA traveled to the Tacana territory to see those efforts firsthand. Board member Jeff Woodman filed this report:

I had the honor of joining fellow Amazon Conservation colleagues on a trip to visit the Tacana indigenous territory located in northern Bolivia near the border with Peru and Brazil. The Tacana territory covers over 800,000 acres between two premier Bolivian protected areas: Madidi National Park and Manuripi-Heath National Amazon Reserve. Conserving the Amazon requires many strategies…but one critically important aspect of our work is empowering communities who live in the forests. We’ve worked with the Tacana for nearly a decade to support their ability to manage this vast territory for conservation. I couldn’t wait to meet them and see the results of our efforts. 

We were also visiting for a more specific reason. In 2013, the Tacana requested our assistance building “payoles,” simple wooden buildings used to store and dry Brazil nuts during the harvest season. With generous contributions from our supporters, Amazon Conservation raised funds for the Tacana to construct payoles. I wanted to hear the full story and learn whether these payoles had benefited the community. 

The Tacana territory consists of four small communities: Las Mercedes, Puerto Perez, Toromonas and El Tigre. After flying to Lima, then Puerto Maldonado, then taking a six-­‐hour boat ride on what looked like a large motorized canoe, we arrived at Puerto Perez. We were greeted like old friends. It took no time at all to feel a bond form…they were often smiling, joking, or laughing with twinkling eyes. No sooner had we disembarked than we were invited into people’s houses for “un ratito,” a short while, where we were treated to pork with rice, platanos and fish caught from the river. Family members would stand behind us watching every mouthful we ate. After the third “ratito”, my fears of being out of shape seemed unfounded!

Later that evening, the entire community gathered in a large meeting hall. As huge bats circled above us, Edgar Garcia, president of the four Tacana communities, and Hernan Bascopé, president of the Las Mercedes community, welcomed us with a series of speeches. This was followed by discussion between community members and us that lasted well into the evening. It was evident that our work with the Tacana was important and meaningful. After our long day of travel, rather than feeling tired, I felt invigorated.

Tacana members Don Lorenzo (left), Edgar Garcia, President of the Tacana (center), and Hernan Bascopé, President of Las Mercedes (right)

The following day, as we set out on the river, we learned about the Brazil nut harvest and the importance of payoles. The Tacana catch fish, grow fruit trees and practice small-­scale  farming, but essentially their entire income is dependent upon the harvest and sale of Brazil nuts. Harvesting Brazil nuts is a straightforward process: from January to April, Brazil nuts fall to the ground where they are collected, stored, and then sold. As simple as that sounds, the work is unimaginably difficult. Each harvester packs 60-­70 kilos (130-150 pounds) of Brazil nuts into a bag, then carries that bag to a drop-­off area near a river. Since the harvest occurs during the rainy season, harvesters work in the rain walking up and down steep muddy trails. Harvesters commonly cover more than ten miles a day, hauling Brazil nuts, day after day. It’s no wonder the Tacana are built like sturdy wrestlers!

Board member Steve Voorhees examining Brazil nuts drying in a new payole

The key to the importance of payoles lies in the fact that it can take weeks for the Tacana to arrange transport for their Brazil nuts to a processing facility. During this time, Brazil nuts are traditionally piled on the ground, making them susceptible to spoilage. In a typical year, 15% of Tacana Brazil nut total production is lost to spoilage. That amounts to about $120,000 of lost income to the Tacana communities each year.

Payoles are simple structures with a wooden floor and a metal roof that maximize drying while minimizing exposure to rain. Though the design is simple, the result is effective—payoles virtually eliminate production lost to spoilage. 

On our last day, as we boarded the boat to leave the Tacana community, we reflected on all we’d experienced and learned during our visit. We were awed by their commitment to hard work, impressed by their governance and organizational structure, and charmed by their friendly gracious ways. We learned that by listening and working together we can develop solutions to empower the Tacana to manage their own resources. We left with a deeper understanding of our Amazonian partners and a commitment to continue our shared efforts to conserve the Amazon.

The 2014 Kaypi Perú festival was brimming with distinct forms of dance, music, and art that filled the event with a flavor as varied and unique as the country itself.

For the festival, ACA unveiled our photo exhibit, “From the Andes to the Amazon: Conservation, Culture, and Diversity,” featuring 30 photographs shot by Gabby Salazar across our project area that illustrate the rich cultural and biological diversity of the region, as well as the increasing threats it faces. Lectures from Gabby, ACA co-founder Enrique Ortiz, and ACA Executive Director Hannah Stutzman spoke to the incredible value of the ecosystems and communities we are working to protect.

Our work is focused in the southwestern Amazon, one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet and a global priority for conservation. It is also home to numerous indigenous peoples that depend on forest resources for their livelihoods and cultural identity. 

ACA partners with local communities to build capacity in forest management and protection, to help indigenous communities secure legal rights to their ancestral land for conservation, and to promote opportunities for local people to earn sustainable incomes.  Our efforts serve the dual purpose of protecting the forest while supporting the people that inhabit it. These efforts include:

• We support 34 communities in the Andes-Amazon region as they protect and manage the forest resources that are central to their culture and to their livelihoods.
• We have provided technical support to more than 420 families earning a living as Brazil nut harvesters, a livelihood which provides a viable and ecologically sound alternative to destructive economic activities. Since Brazil nuts can only produce fruit in healthy rainforest ecosystems, our Brazil nut program has protected over 1.5 million acres of tropical rainforest.
• In 2001, our Peruvian sister organization, Conservación Amazónica–ACCA, facilitated the creation of the world’s first conservation concession run by an indigenous group, allowing the Queros-Wachiperi indigenous community to act as the social and environmental authority over their land.
• Our three biological stations welcome scientists and researchers striving to learn more about the incredible biodiversity of the region, and we host programs for children from local communities who have a deep appreciation of the land’s value, but lack information about topics such as biodiversity and climate change. We also provide scholarships for Peruvian students to travel to our stations for research.

These are just some of the ways that we support sustainable livelihoods and work with local communities to protect forests and biodiversity across southeastern Peru. Our celebration of culture for Kaypi Perú 2014 was also a celebration of the rich ecosystems and wildlife that form the vibrant Peruvian landscape, and another step toward ensuring their protection. 

As the new Executive Director of the Amazon Conservation Association, I’m thrilled for the chance to work with all of our supporters to help the world’s lungs, the Andes–Amazon, breathe a little easier. Before this, I spent 4 years as Director of Programs at ACA, overseeing our Manu–Tambopata Corridor  (MAT) project as well as managing other large-scale grants and strategies.

This year is an anniversary one for our organization: it’s the 15^th for both ACA and our sister organization in Peru, Conservación Amazónica–ACCA, and the 10^th for our main partner organization in Bolivia, ACEAA. It’s a good opportunity to reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going. I am so excited to work with our talented team as we take ACA into its next 15 years, and continue doing my part to further its mission to conserve Amazonian biodiversity.

Working in conservation in the Andes-Amazon was a natural fit for me. I grew up in a family that lived in and traveled in Latin America, and as a kid immediately fell in love with the wonder of tropical forests. I’ve followed this passion by working for environmental organizations in Colombia and the U.S. I was drawn to ACA because of its focus on putting resources in the field, developing innovative solutions to conservation challenges, and creating science-based programs.

All of this clicked for me when I was in the field with the MAT Corridor, talking to community members participating in the project. They shared with me how legal support and planting trees for agroforestry was helping them protect their land from illegal invasion by gold miners. It was powerful to see firsthand how our work was helping forests and communities.

As you know, it takes all of us to protect the Andes–Amazon. I want to thank you for sharing ACA’s message on social media, sending in donations, getting your boots muddy visiting our three biological stations, and all of the other ways you have supported ACA  over the past 15 years—your involvement creates greater success for our efforts. You are an integral part of our global network (2.2 million acres conserved and counting), so I hope you will continue to stay connected to us. I would love to hear about what’s important to you about our work. 

I am eager to work with you in the months and years ahead. Thank you in advance, and here’s to ACA’s next 15 years! 

Sincerely,

Hannah Stutzman

Dr. Matt Finer standing beside a felled tree in Peru. According to the new study, much of this timber may have come from unauthorized areas, including protected areas and indigenous territories outside of legal concessions.

Dr. Matt Finer, ACA’s Research Specialist, is the lead author of a paper published yesterday in Scientific Reports, an open access, peer-reviewed journal affiliated with Nature. Focused on logging in Peru, the paper analyzes 609 logging concessions with data obtained from OSINFOR, the supervisory body in Peru that oversees post-logging inspections. Finer, along with colleagues representing the Center for International Environmental Law and the Instituto de Pequisas Ecologicas, found that 68% of officially inspected concessions are either cancelled or under investigation for major violations of Peru’s forestry laws. (Sound familiar?  Newsweek and The Guardian have published articles reporting on this study.) 

Each logging concession represents a 40-year lease to officially manage public land for timber use. Reasons for cancelling logging concessions include timber extraction outside of concession limits, extraction or transport of illegal timber, non-compliance with management, and submission of false information; often, as this paper describes, OSINFOR discovered no stumps where legally sanctioned logging was to have taken place.

“Our new study presents evidence that the illegal logging concession system is in reality enabling an illegal logging crisis in the Peruvian Amazon despite important reform efforts,” says Finer. “As a consequence, logging is not contained to concessions, and instead it threatens all forested lands, including protected areas and indigenous territories.”  But another key finding is that OSINFOR’s regulatory work is critically important to improving the concession system. Finer adds, “OSINFOR deserves additional support, not less, as the office is increasingly criticized by loggers whose concessions have been canceled.”  

Featured photo: Dr. Matt Finer standing beside a felled tree in Peru. According to the new study, much of this timber may have come from unauthorized areas, including protected areas and indigenous territories outside of legal concessions. (Credit: Clinton Jenkins)

Earlier this year, ACCA (ACA’s Peruvian sister organization) signed a formal cooperative agreement with Cusco’s regional government to support the creation of two new regional protected areas, Urusayhua-Koshireni and Ausangate. As part of this partnership, ACCA will also support the regional government in the management of the Choquequirao Regional Conservation Area, a span of forest which includes ancient Incan ruins just 30 miles from Machu Picchu.  

In Peru’s park system, a regional protected area is the equivalent of a U.S. state park. Urusayhua-Koshireni and Ausangate span over 1.5 million acres; Choquequirao, Cusco’s first regional conservation area, stands at 256,530 acres. ACCA hopes to have Urusayhua-Koshireni and Ausangate officially declared as regional protected areas by 2015. Once officially declared, this partnership will offer additional protection for close to 2 million acres of forested and culturally significant land. 

Daniela Pogliani, ACCA’s Executive Director, and Efraín Samochuallpa Solis, Cusco’s Regional Manager of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, signed the agreement February 20 on behalf of their respective institutions. The partnership took effect the same day.

Over the coming months and years, ACCA will assist Cusco in implementing its plan for Choquequirao and provide additional support for hiring staff, equipping rangers, developing a research plan, and seeking long-term financing for the area.

Who Lives in These Protected Areas?

Protected areas give wildlife the space they to need to thrive. Here are just a few of the majestic species that the partnership between ACCA and the Cusco regional government—to create these protected areas—will help:

• Spectacled bears (Choquequirao and Urusayhua-Koshireni)
• Condors (Ausangate)
• Vicuñas (Ausangate)
• Scarlet macaws (Urusayhua-Koshireni)
• South American river otters (Urusayhua-Koshireni)
• Pumas (Urusayhua-Koshireni)
• And so much more!

View the PDF here

WASHINGTON, DC (April 17, 2014)—The megadiverse Peruvian Amazon is a globally important arena when it comes to promoting sustainable logging. Despite efforts to achieve sustainability, including a modern Forestry Law and an important Forestry Annex in the US–Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, illegal logging continues to plague the region.

These instruments reformed the legal logging concession system – which allows the Peruvian government to grant long-term contracts for logging rights on specific tracts of public land – and the seemingly comprehensive regulatory framework to manage it. There are currently 609 logging concessions in the Peruvian Amazon.

In a new study published today in the open-access journal Scientific Reports, researchers found that 68% of officially inspected concessions are either cancelled or under investigation for major violations of forestry regulations. Moreover, the nature of the violations indicates that the permits associated with legal concessions are used to harvest and transport trees in unauthorized areas.

“Our new study presents evidence that the legal logging concession system is in reality enabling an illegal logging crisis in the Peruvian Amazon despite important reform efforts,” said Matt Finer of the Amazon Conservation Association. “As a consequence, logging is not contained to concessions, and instead, it threatens all forested lands, including protected areas and indigenous territories.”

The findings derive from analyzing nine years of official information from OSINFOR1 , the supervisory body in Peru that conducts post-logging inspections. In the majority of inspected concessions, OSINFOR documented: timber extraction outside of concession limits, extraction or transport of illegal timber, non-compliance with management plans, and submission of false or incomplete information.

Many of the violations pertain to the illegal extraction of threatened cedar species that are listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which aims to ensure that international trade in species does not threaten their survival.

“Overall, we found a troubling, yet common, pattern indicating that legal logging permits are often used to facilitate the extraction and transit of timber outside the concession area,” said Melissa Blue Sky of the Center for International Environmental Law.

Through the analysis of reports of inspected concessions, the study found that logging concession owners often indicate the presence of abundant timber, particularly cedar, in their management plan and then claim authorized logging took place. However, when OSINFOR eventually inspects the concession area, they often find that the information in the management plan was false because there are no stumps of the supposedly harvested trees.

“Despite important reforms, much of the timber coming out of the Peruvian Amazon is still likely sourced outside of authorized concession areas,” said Clinton Jenkins of the Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas in Brazil. “More reforms and enforcement of regulations are obviously still needed.”

Another key finding of the study is that OSINFOR’s regulatory work is critically important to improving the concession system. “OSINFOR deserves additional support, not less, as the office is increasingly criticized by loggers whose concessions have been canceled,” said Finer.

A new Forestry Law was passed in July 2011, but has not yet gone into effect due to delays in the adoption of the implementing regulation. “Unfortunately, the new 2011 Forestry Law and implementing regulation, which is under development, currently fall short of what is needed to address this problem,” said Blue Sky.

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CONTACT Matt Finer (Amazon Conservation Association) mfiner@amazonconservation.org, Tel: 202-234-2356

Clinton N. Jenkins (Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas) clinton.jenkins@gmail.com

Melissa Blue Sky (Center for International Environmental Law) mbluesky@ciel.org

Justin Pine (Northern Arizona University) jrp263@nau.edu

Amazon Conservation Association (ACA) and its sister organization in Peru, Conservación Amazónica-ACCA, have been pioneers in conserving biodiversity in the southwest Amazon since 1999. They seek to preserve the world’s richest forests, train the next generation of Amazonian conservationists, and help people in the Amazon live better lives through sustainable means.

Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) uses international law and institutions to protect the environment, promote human health, and ensure a just and sustainable society. CIEL is a non‐profit organization dedicated to advocacy in the global public interest, including through legal counsel, policy research, analysis, education, training and capacity building.

The Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (IPÊ) is one of the largest environmental NGOs in Brazil with over ninety professionals working in more than forty projects throughout Brazil. IPÊ undertakes an integrated action model, developed through decades of experience, which combines research, environmental education, habitat restoration, and community involvement with sustainable development, landscape conservation and policy-making.

1 Organismo de Supervisión de los Recursos Forestales y de Fauna Silvestre