Wild orchids are disappearing in Latin America due to over-collection and loss of habitat. Peru alone has lost more than 13 percent of its forest from 1950-1992. Thankfully, scientists, students and local resident naturalists are collaborating to document and conserve wild orchids of the neotropics and their ecosystems. In addition to discovering new orchids, there is a comprehensive orchid inventory monitoring program that provides a baseline for documenting overall ecosystem’s health.

Team members from the Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program (AABP) at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) in collaboration with ACA are studying wild orchids in the Andes-Amazon region of southeast Peru. The project is currently based at ACA’s Los Amigos Biological Station and Wayqecha Research Station, covering transitional region where the Andes Mountains slope down to meet with the Amazon basin. Experts in the field say that research in Wayqecha could help promote conservation in the area and ensure the protection of these wild orchids and their ecosystem for many years.

The main goals are to study the diversity and ecology of wild orchids and to document this work through the publication of checklists, field guides, scientific papers and an online database. A major goal of the orchid project is to study the effect of habitat, season and elevation on the change in orchid species diversity and ecology. So far the project has been a success. The AABP field team collected 60 species of flowering or fruiting orchids from forest and wetland areas around the Los Amigos Biological Station in September 2005. In Wayqecha Research Station, in only five days of initial fieldwork in 2004, the AABP team documented 110 orchids in Wayqecha forests.

Orchid scientists and orchid enthusiast are invited to view the AABP orchid collection online at the AABP Atrium website (atrium. andesamazon.org), where one can view digital images of orchids and other plants collected by project botanists.

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ACA is pleased to announce a new and exciting project: The Manu Cloud Forest Observatory and Canopy Walkway System.

The project consists of a highly sophisticated aluminum canopy walkway system that will include an observatory in the Peruvian cloud forests, at ~9,500 ft asl. The walkway will be constructed along steep mountain slopes in the Kosñipata valley and will include a high-end technology classroom tower for educational courses and research activities.

The canopy walkway system will be fully integrated with a trail system to provide a unique experience both for the general public and for researchers and educators.

Our partners for this project are the ACEER Foundation, Greenheart Conservation, the National Geographic Society, Alcan Inc., the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation, among others. More news on the development of this project in our next issue.

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When one lives at 13,450 ft in the Peruvian Andes, a cup of hot chocolate and a Christmas present have a whole new meaning. On December 20, 2006 our partner organization in Peru, the Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica (ACCA) organized a Christmas celebration with the children of the Quico community in Cusco.

Quico is a weaving community of about 60 families that live high in the Andean mountains of the Kosñipata Valley. When it comes to weaving their magnificent textiles, all family members participate, from the very young and playful to very old and wise. Their weaving techniques are ancient, dating back perhaps to the times of the Incas.

ACCA works with the Quicos helping them improve their weaving techniques, and providing training in the use of natural dyes as part of a Micro-enterprise initiatives’ project funded by the Blue Moon Fund and ACA.

This past December, a team of ACCA visited the Quicos bringing hot chocolate and presents for 120 children. The Christmas celebration not only was enjoyed by the children, but also by the parents and teachers of the local school. The presents given to the children included musical instruments like quenas, zampoñas and flutes for the boys; the girls received little toy-stuffed llamas and dolls dressed with traditional clothing.

“This is a good day, we like that we work together, thank you.” said Wenceslao, a leader of the community.

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In August-September 2006, fieldwork at ACA Los Amigos research station by Drs. Joseph Tobias and Nathalie Seddon (Oxford University, UK) added seven new bird species to the Los Amigos list. The new species include the Whitebellied Seedeater (Sporophila leucoptera) and the Whitechinned Swift (Cypseloides cryptus).

Both of these sightings were documented with photographs, and represent the first records for the department of Madre de Dios, Peru. Indeed, there is no previous documented Peruvian record of the Seedeater, and the Swift is only known from a handful of specimens (mainly old records from the department of Puno, Peru). Their discovery is just another example of the vast biodiversity of Los Amigos yet to be explored.

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In July Luz Marina Velarde, Director of our Brazil Nut Program, organized a workshop on sustainable management of Brazil nuts in the Madre de Dios region in Peru. Approximately 50 local Brazil nut growers attended the workshop. Delegates from Brazil and Bolivia were also present.

The purpose of the workshop was to give Brazil nut growers a framework to share experiences and discuss the different techniques they have developed over the past years in their respective communities.

The workshop also helped address issues affecting local communities, such as environmental and social risks and benefits associated with the use of Brazil nuts as an economic alternative. Ms. Sara Hurtado and Mr. Amancio Ibanez, harvesters in the areas of Alegria and Alerta of Madre de Dios, discussed how their lives have improved with the use of Brazil nuts as a sustainable development and economically viable alternative.

In Madre de Dios, Brazil nuts represent more than half a year’s income for thousands of families. ACA promotes regular workshops to increase awareness of the benefits resulting from harvesting Brazil nuts, not only for the community but for forest conservation as well.

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César Morán, an experienced Peruvian environmentalist, joins the ACA family as our new Conservation Director starting this month.

César was born in Lima, Peru, and studied Zoology at the La Molina University in Lima. He then pursued a Master’s degree in Environmental Management at the Yale School of Forestry. César has a vast experience in the environmental conservation field. He developed a hands-on environmental education program at the La Molina University aimed to teach school children in Lima about organic gardening.

Later, he worked for seven years as Project Coordinator for the Machu Picchu Program, a debt-for-nature swap between the countries of Finland and Peru which supported the park in environmental issues. We are delighted to bring him along in our journey and are confident that he will help ACA accomplish major conservation goals. Welcome César!

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On September 3, 2006, Vanessa Sequeira, 36, a dear friend and former member of ACA was killed in the Brazilian Amazon. She was working on her doctoral research for Costa Rica’s Center for Tropical Agricultural Research. Her dream was to promote programs of sustainable development in the Amazon region. She worked side by side with local communities and helped them develop techniques that would benefit them economically without cutting or destroying the forest. This goal became a priority in her professional and personal life.

She was a passionate conservationist who worked hard to see her dreams come true. When she first joined the ACA family back in 1999, as Field Director of the Brazil Nut Program in Peru, the program had just started. As she took over and assumed many responsibilities, she laid the groundwork for ACA’s advances since. She turned the Brazil Nut Program into a sustainable economic and ecological alternative to ensure the conservation of the Peruvian Amazon. Her legacy in the conservation field and at ACA has been tremendous. Her hard work with the Brazil Nut Program made ACA a worldwide pioneer in the field.

Vanessa was a wonderful person with an incomparable passion for her work. She has left us a valuable scientific, professional and humanitarian heritage. She will always be in the hearts of Brazil nut growers, her colleagues in the environmental community and all of us at ACA. May Vanessa be always remembered with love and respect, and may her legacy continue for decades to come.

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In 2003, ACA and its Peruvian partner, Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica (ACCA), launched a grant program to support research in the Amazon region. Since then, the program has granted 90 scholarships. All this has been possible due to the generous support of the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation.

The main objective of this research grants program is to provide economic assistance to young scientists to conduct research at our Los Amigos station.

There are three grant categories that support field research in pure and applied biology and resource use and related topics:

1. Grants for Peruvian undergraduate students
2. Grants for master’s and doctoral students, and
3. Seed grants or matching grants for post-docs or established researchers.

In 2006 ACA and ACCA awarded 21 grants: 4 to Peruvian undergraduate students, 7 to master’s and doctoral students, and 10 to established researchers at the post-doc level. Research projects conducted by these students include topics on climate change, vegetation inventory, plant-animal interactions, fishes, birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates, and many others.

Results from this work will help us better understand the Amazonian ecosystems and to develop strategies to help preserve the richest rainforest on Earth. Our research grants represent a significant financial resource for Latin American scientists. Of the 90 grants awarded to date, 54 have been given to Peruvian scientists, 2 to Argentinean scientists, 2 to Brazilian scientists, 2 to Colombian scientists, and 1 to a Mexican scientist.

We are very proud of the research activity and results generated by these grants and hope to continue offering them for many years to come.

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In June, ACA’s Wayqecha Research Station, located at 2,900 m of elevation in the cloud forest region of Cusco, Peru, opened its doors to researchers from around the world. In the months of July and August alone, Wayqecha hosted 29 different researchers from various American, British and Peruvian institutions, such as University of Florida, University of Missouri, Texas A&M University, and Oxford University.

Wayqecha Research Station aims to protect the cloud forest’s biodiversity as it facilitates research which will lead to a better understanding of this ecosystem. Cloud forests receive hundreds of inches of rain every year. Their trees, mosses and soil work as giant sponges capturing the abundant rainfall and then releasing it slowly into a network of small streams and creeks that represent the smallest tributaries of the vast Amazon drainage.

Cloud forests are of critical conservation value for many reasons:

1. they contain a vast storehouse of species, many of them narrowly endemic
2. They are among the ecosystems hardest hit by the amphibian extinction crisis
3. They will serve as natural corridors for plant and animal species pushed uphill by global warming.

At the moment, Wayqecha is ready to receive up to 12 people at a time. The station is equipped with 3 cabins for researchers, a dining room for up to 40 people, a kitchen, a laundry room, and a camping area. Satellite internet and VOIP are also available.

In addition to research in the cloud forest, ACA is actively involved with communities in the region to develop sustainable resource use practices.

We have three projects already in place:

1. Extraction of essential oils from medicinal plants
2. Production of high-quality cooking oil from the native Sacha Inchi plant
3. Production of natural dyes used to color traditional textiles.

The new Wayqecha station is just 175 km from our Los Amigos station in the Amazonian lowlands. Together, research at these sites will provide a full panorama of the biodiversity and climate changes in the Andes-Amazon region.

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After four years of intensive efforts to document the reptile species that live within the Los Amigos Conservation Concession, a team of experts has recently completed a detailed catalog of more than 80 reptile species.

Hundreds of species are still expected to be recorded in the coming years, and as the list grows, so does the chance of engaging the Peruvian government and other organizations in implementing new conservation activities.

“Knowledge of amphibian and reptile communities across Amazonian forests is crucial for understanding how highly diverse the region is and how important it is to preserve its diversity,” explains Rudolf von May, a Peruvian Ph.D. student at Florida International University. Von May has done field work at many sites in Peru, including the Manu Biosphere Reserve and Rio Abiseo National Park, and is currently completing his thesis on “Anuran beta diversity across forest types in a lowland Amazonian rainforest” at the Los Amigos Biological Station.

Along with colleagues Louise Emmons, Guillermo Knell, Jennifer Jacobs, and Lily Rodriguez, von May has now published a downloadable field guide, available at Field Museum of Natural History’s website. Also available at the Field Museum website are guides to several groups of plants prepared by noted botanist Robin Foster and colleagues.

The reptile plates include some species from Peru’s Manu National Park and Tambopata Reserve. Both sites lie adjacent to the Los Amigos biological station and thus share similar ecosystems and species. A similar set of guides is currently being planned for the amphibians at Los Amigos.

“Laminated guides to identify tropical organisms are important tools for research and education,” finalizes von May.

“The study of these organisms and studies on plant and animal life will contribute to regional strategies for conservation.”

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