These past few weeks significant scientific advances have been made at our Los Amigos Biological Station by the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP).

The research group, led by professors Dr. Eric Cosio and Dr. Norma Salinas from the Department of Science and the Institute for Nature, Earth and Energy at INTE-PUCP, has installed an atmospheric flux system in our Los Amigos observation tower at a height of 196-foot (60 meter) above the ground to measure carbon, methane, and water vapor in the air. They are studying greenhouse gas fluxes to understand whether forests act as sinks or sources of these gases, and also show how they differ in different ecosystems (primary forest, secondary forest, wetlands and Andean highlands). They have multiple towers with these systems in various districts of Peru for comparison purposes.

Biometric data – that is, statistical analysis of ecological information – was taken from a forest area close to the tower to classify the forest next to the flux devices, and to estimate how much carbon is currently present in the standing forest. 

This research and our collaboration with PUCP is a key example of how we put science and technology to work for conservation, helping to discover how climate change is affecting the Amazon Rainforest. The PUCP team will return to Los Amigos in August to recalibrate equipment, and then every three months afterwards to obtain data. They are looking to enhance the system with more gas flux devices over time, such as adding an atmospheric mercury meter. The gas flux data will be uploaded to a global platform for flux data, connecting our Los Amigos Biological Station to the rest of the world. Additionally, a weather station was placed on top of the Los Amigos tower, which provides very precise, digital, meteorological data. 

Special thanks to the Andes Amazon Fund and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, for the support that made possible the purchase and installation of 8 solar panels that are powering the flux devices. 

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After a long process, we’ve helped secure an environmental license authorizing the operation of a pilot açaí processing plant in the Villa Florida community of the Manuripi National Reserve in Bolivia – making the community one of the first in Bolivia. Securing this license is a significant achievement because it engages authorities to support efforts advancing these forest-friendly economic activities. 

Açaí is a strategic fruit within the framework of regional economic recovery, generating at least 100 immediate jobs for the local community as well as indirectly benefiting families through the revitalization of the local economy. Communities like Villa Florida collect açaí berries and Brazil nuts as a source of food and income. Both of these products can only grow in healthy, standing forests, thus supporting their sustainable harvest encourages conservation of these important ecosystems. Differently from Brazil nuts, açaí requires a transformation process to be done quickly in order to obtain the berries’ pulp, making a processing plant a vital necessity for communities who want to diversify their income and increase the value of their forest goods. 

Our on-the-ground sister organization in Bolivia, Conservación Amazónica-ACEAA, along with WWF-Bolivia, provided technical and financial support to the Villa Florida people  as well as the National Protected Areas Service of Bolivia (SERNAP) to obtain this license. 

“The future of açaí is promising; it is time to cement processes and strengthen policies that support its development and growth…improving living conditions, contributing to regional development, promoting local economies and inclusive conservation,” said Samuel Sangüeza Pardo, Country Representative for WWF-Bolivia.

The location of the pilot processing plant will be within the Manuripi-Heath Amazonian Wildlife National Reserve, a protected conservation area in Pando, Bolivia, that spans 1.8 million acres (​​747,000 ha). This biodiversity hotspot is home to 528 species of plants, 501 species of birds, 150 species of mammals, and 112 species of fish. Manuripi is already a major producer of Brazil nuts, exporting approximately 10,000 tons annually.

Photo via PANDO Vision (click to view the Facebook Live of the ceremony)

We were able to build on this existing sustainable infrastructure and help the community advance açaí as a second flagship product that they can export in order to build their economic power and diversify their income sources. 

Manuripi was established with two main objectives in mind: The first was to conserve the important forests of the Amazon in Northern Bolivia, while the second was to promote the sustainable use of wild resources through forest management that guarantees long-term productivity, improves the living conditions of the local population, and contributes to the development of the region. By helping establish this pilot processing plant, we once again reinforce the biodiversity and economic benefits of conserving forests that can provide renewable products, over other destructive activities such as logging or clearing land for cattle ranching.

Ruthmery Pillco, who leads field activities for the Community-Based Reforestation to Protect Andean bears project, was recently announced as one of fifteen changemakers worldwide to be selected for National Geographic’s Emerging Explorers award. She joins a global community of National Geographic Explorers that include a diverse array of scientists, educators, storytellers, and conservationists. 

Ruthmery is an Indigenous Peruvian biologist from a village outside of Cusco, and is a trilingual speaker of Spanish, English and Quechua. She recently received her Master’s degree in plant and fungi taxonomy, conservation, and biodiversity from Queen Mary University of London and Kew Gardens, and has also been featured as one of our Incredible Women in Science. 

Aside from leading the Andean bear conservation project, she has led rare and threatened tree conservation projects on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica, making inventories of flora, collecting seeds, and germinating threatened trees to later be used in restoration projects. 

National Geographic’s Emerging Explorers are selected annually from a global pool of candidates, and come from a variety of fields ranging from anthropology and earth sciences to technology and filmmaking. Aside from Ruthmery’s species conservation work, the projects from this year’s Emerging Explorers’ include ocean exploration, inventing space technologies, and understanding the past through archaeology and anthropology, among others.

“Our emerging explorers are inspiring young visionaries who are looking at ways to remedy global problems and are undertaking innovative research and exploration,” said Terry Garcia, National Geographic’s chief science and exploration officer at the time, in a past interview about the program. “They will help lead a new age of discovery.”

See the National Geographic announcement here.

2021 Brazilian Amazon Fire #2. Mato Grosso. Data: MAAP, Planet.

Last year (2020), we demonstrated the power of our real-time Amazon fire monitoring app (see MAAP #118 and MAAP #129).

In a novel approach, the app uniquely combines data from the atmosphere (aerosol emissions in smoke) and the ground (heat anomaly alerts) to quickly and precisely detect major Amazon fires.*

Using the app, we just detected the first two major fires in the Brazilian Amazon for 2021.

These fires occurred on May 19 and 20, respectively, both on the southern edge of the Amazon in the state of Mato Grosso. For comparison, last year’s intense fire season started on May 28.

(Editor’s note: Since the initial publishing of this article, we have identified four additional major fires. This brings the total number of major fires in the Amazon to six; these six major fires are all burning in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. Please follow @MattFiner and @ACA_DC on Twitter to stay up-to-date on the latest Amazon fires updates).

We confirmed the fires using high-resolution imagery from the satellite company Planet.

Importantly, the imagery also revealed that these fires burned recently deforested areas. That is, instead of being actual “forest fires,” these areas were actually first deforested in 2020 and then burned in 2021. See MAAP #113 for background on this important point.

Below, we show a striking series of satellite imagery videos showing the first two fires, which highlights critical process of Amazon deforestation followed by Amazon fires.

2021 Brazilian Amazon Fire #1

We detected the first major fire of the year in the Brazilian Amazon on May 19, on the southern edge of the Amazon in the state of Mato Grosso. As the satellite video shows, this area was first cleared in 2020 and then later burned in 2021.

2021 Brazilian Amazon Fire #1. Mato Grosso. Data: MAAP, Planet.

2021 Brazilian Amazon Fire #2

We detected the second major fire of the year in the Brazilian Amazon the following day, on May 20, also on the southern edge of the Amazon in the state of Mato Grosso. As the satellite video shows, this area was also first cleared in 2020 and then later burned in 2021.

2021 Brazilian Amazon Fire #2. Mato Grosso. Data: MAAP, Planet.

*App Background

We launched a new and improved version of the Amazon real-time fire monitoring app in May 2021. The app is hosted by Google Earth Engine and updated every day by the organization Conservación Amazónica, based in Peru.

The app displays aerosol emissions as detected by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5 satellite. Elevated aerosol levels indicate the burning of large amounts of biomass, defined here as a “major fire”. In a novel approach, the app combines data from the atmosphere (aerosol emissions in smoke) and the ground (heat anomaly alerts) to effectively detect and visualize major Amazon fires.

When fires burn, they emit gases and aerosols. A new satellite (Sentinel-5P from the European Space Agency) detects these aerosol emissions (aerosol definition: Suspension of fine solid particles or liquid droplets in air or another gas). Thus, the major feature of the app is detecting elevated aerosol emissions which in turn indicate the burning of large amounts of biomass. For example, the app distinguishes small fires clearing old fields (and burning little biomass) from larger fires burning recently deforested areas or standing forest (and burning lots of biomass). The spatial resolution of the aerosol data is 7.5 sq km. The high values in the aerosol indices (AI) may also be due to other reasons such as emissions of volcanic ash or desert dust so it is important to cross reference elevated emissions with heat data and optical imagery.

We define “major fire” as one showing elevated aerosol emission levels on the app, thus indicating the burning of elevated levels of biomass. This typically translates to an aerosol index of >1 (or cyan-green to red on the app). To identify the exact source of the elevated emissions, we reduce the intensity of aerosol data in order to see the underlying terrestrial heat-based fire alerts. Typically for major fires, there is a large cluster of alerts. The major fires are then confirmed, and burn areas estimated, using high-resolution satellite imagery from Planet Explorer.

Since the data updates daily and is not impacted by clouds, real-time monitoring really is possible. Our goal is to upload each day’s new image in the late afternoon/early evening.

Acknowledgements

The app was developed and updated daily by Conservación Amazónica (ACCA). The data analysis is led by Amazon Conservation in collaboration with SERVIR Amazonia.

This work was mainly supported by NORAD (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation) and ICFC (International Conservation Fund of Canada).

Citation

Finer M, Villa L (2021) Amazon Fire Tracker 2021: Brazilian Amazon Fire Season Begins. MAAP.

Download PDF of this article 

Image of Greensladella cicra sp.n

Nine new beetle species and two new genera were recently discovered at our biological stations in the Peruvian Amazon by British researcher Dr. Michael Darby, noted in his recent publication “New genera and species of Ptiliini (Coleoptera: Ptiliidae) with a tribal revision and key to genera.”

Two of those species he named in honor of our biological stations: Greensladella cicra sp.n  is named after our Los Amigos Biological Station where the insect was found, while Numa carmen sp.n is named after our Manu Biological Station (previously called Villa Carmen), where it was collected.

Greensladella cicra sp.n measures 0.68 mm, with a reddish brown body with dusky yellow legs and antennae. Its head is covered with large circular shallow setal depressions, and the row behind the eyes is slightly elongated. Numa carmen sp.n measures 0.61 mm and the color is dark, almost black, with pale yellow antennae and a strongly sculpted head and body

Image of Numa Carmen sp.n

They are part of the Ptiliidae family of beetles, which includes some of the smallest beetles in the world. These are also sometimes called featherwing beetles, because the hindwings are narrow and feathery.

In total, Dr. Michael Darby’s publication added three new genera (two from Peru at our stations) to the beetle tribe Ptiliini and 29 new species (nine discovered at our stations). His research helps better categorize this tribe of beetles, as he also created a key to help determine specimens. 

Our stations have hosted over 200 research projects and produced over 200 publications, including biological inventories of more than 30 types of organisms. Due to the range of elevational gradients, they host an incredible array of species found in a variety of habitats, ranging from cloud forest to montane and lowland Amazonian forests. 

A group of three key conservation actors in Peru recently signed the Manu Conservation Agreement, which looks to promote exports, fair trade, and conservation of Amazonian forests in the vast Manu Biosphere Reserve in southeastern Peru. Through the sustainable commercialization of forest products that can only exist in healthy forests, this agreement works to build deforestation-free economic recovery for the area.

This agreement will benefit 51 local families by protecting 1,000 acres from deforestation and the 30,000 Peruvian groundcherry plants found within, that produce fruit that can be harvested and generate income. These plants have been a staple crop gathered by local communities, and have contributed to the area’s conservation for the past eight years. The local communities, who have been committed to the conservation of Manu National Park from the beginning, are now being offered new opportunities with this agreement, because their products will move from local markets in Cusco to national markets, with the possibility of being exported internationally.

During the signing ceremony, the President of the Ukumari Paucartambo Agro-exporters Association, Ricter Cárdenas, stated in his speech: “First of all, I thank the National Service for Protected Areas (SERNANP)…as well as Conservación Amazónica -ACCA and the Frankfurt Zoological Society, because they always support us with their coordination.  We’ve been working on this for 6 years, and after 3 years, Conservación Amazónica -ACCA, SERNANP and two other organizations joined to support us.” He also added that, “My colleagues and I are proud, we have finished delivering the fruit, now we are selling to a company thanks to much effort and training.” 

Since 2019, we have supported producers in Challabamba through our sister organization on the ground in Peru, Conservación Amazónica -ACCA, with technical training from production to harvest, packaging and shipping, advice in the development of marketing agreements, of products such as aguaymanto, apple, passion fruit, avocado, coffee, in coexistence with the forests where the Andean bear lives. This is thanks to the alliance with the Resilient Amazon project – National Service for Protected Areas (SERNANP) PNUD. Through this project, we have been promoting the creation of the Manu biosphere project for zero-deforestation products.

The organizations who signed this agreement include the Ukumari Paucartambo Association of Agro-exporters, the National Service for Protected Natural Areas (SERNANP) and superfruit juice vendor Amaru Mayu Company. Ronald Catpo, the Conservation Director at our sister organization Conservación Amazónica-ACCA, was invited to join the signing ceremony that included the President of Peru, Peru’s Minister of the Environment, the head of National Services for Protected Areas, the regional governor of Cusco, representatives of the Challabamba communities, ambassadors of the United Kingdom and Germany, and the Frankfurt Zoological Society. 

Overgrazing and burning has significantly reduced high-elevation forests throughout the Peruvian Andes, posing a threat to the endemic species that call these cloud forests home, such as the Andean bear. This bear, also called Spectacled bear, is Latin America’s only native bear species and plays a critical role in the health of the Amazon by naturally dispersing seeds. However, this species has been deemed a vulnerable species by the IUCN Red List, so protecting their homes is of utmost importance — especially now, as climate change compounds these effects by driving more species upward in search of cooler and wetter conditions, which in turn reduces food sources for the bears even further. 

To develop the baseline conservation status of Andean bears in the upper Manu region, we installed 30 camera traps on the trails of our Wayqecha and Manu (previously called Villa Carmen) Biological Stations. Andean bears are easily recognized by their face markings that are unique to each individual, similar to a human fingerprint. 

Leading our field activities for this project at Wayqecha Conservation Hub is Ruthmery Pillco, an Indigenous Peruvian botanist from a village outside of Cusco and a trilingual speaker of Spanish, English and Quechua. Field research is also being supported by Ukuku, our new conservation working dog, whose name comes from the Quechua word “bear”. Ukuku was rescued and trained in scent detection, and with her help, the team has found scat samples from three bears in the field. From the samples, we have been able to determine what the bear consumed, and samples were taken for future DNA analysis. 

Through interviews with local communities and field assistants, as well as an in-depth literature review, we identified 60 species of plants consumed by the Andean bear in the region. Of these 60 species, we have learned that the bear prefers those in the Bromeliaceae (14) and the Ericaceae (10) botanical families. Based on this data, 15 species of trees and shrubs were selected to be propagated in our large native tree nursery. A total of 22,000 seedlings of the bear-favorite species identified above will be nurtured and grown here to prepare them for final planting in the reforestation areas. 

To determine where the reforestation areas would be, we identified a total of 50 acres of forests degraded by unmitigated agricultural expansion and fires in two Andean highland communities: Juan Velasco Alvarado and Jajahuana. Since then, reforestation efforts in these areas have begun through community-led efforts, and will continue to take place in the appropriate planting seasons up until January 2022.

Lastly, given the cultural significance of the bear, we developed four radio spots in Spanish and Quechua to broadcast on local radio stations. Without reliable access to internet and cell phones, radio is still the best means of communication in highland communities. The length of these radio spots range between two to five minutes, and are being broadcast every day on two regional stations. The messaging of these radio spots covers many topics to raise awareness of conservation best practices, such as the prevention of forest fires, the importance of planting and not cutting down native trees, the Andean bear’s key ecological role in the health of the forest, and the ecosystem services provided by the forest thanks to Andean bears. 

Moving forward this year, we’ll conduct 50 more interviews with local and indigenous peoples to gather their traditional knowledge on the behavior of the bear in this region, and continue our community reforestation efforts to safeguard the habitat of this important species.

Special thanks to the Stadler Family Charitable Foundation and the International Conservation Fund of Canada (ICFC) for making this project possible.

Since last year, we have been busy making improvements for researchers and ecotourists at our Manu Biological Station (previously called Villa Carmen) in the Peruvian Amazon. In addition to vegetable garden and trail recovery, since November 2020 we’ve been in the process of locating areas for construction and adaptation of ponds for Piaractus brachypomus fish or “paco” as they are commonly called. Responsibly raised, this type of high-protein fish helps generate sustainable livelihoods in the Peruvian Amazon and acts as an important food source for local people. We are using these sample ponds at our biological station to teach visitors the importance and conservation value of this species in the region and provide them the experience of “fishing” for their own dinner.

The idea for this initiative began with a local association of aquaculturists (called Asociación de Acuicultores de Primavera Alta y Primavera Baja) when they saw the need to lower the costs of running sustainable fish farms to make them better alternatives to other forms of livelihoods that may destroy the rainforest. We’ve been working with local and indigenous communities in Peru for 2 decades, helping establish over 200 fish ponds for sustainable use.

We have already begun recovering our paco ponds at Villa Carmen. After purchasing 600 young fish from local sources, we proceeded with creating the proper living conditions, to help the  young fish adapt to the smaller pool. Three months later, they will be transferred to a larger pool so they can continue to grow. Thus, it is estimated that in 8 months there will be pacos sustainably raised for consumption by visitors and local workers at our biological stations. 

Additionally, we are working on recovering other areas aside from paco ponds, including gardens for bird watchers, our famed traditional medicine plant garden, as well as adding endemic flowers and yuccas to our vegetable garden. Click here to learn more about our Manu (previously called Villa Carmen) Biological Station and come visit us.