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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The Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) recently released Atrium, an online biodiversity information system that provides scientists, students, and the general public with access to biodiversity data, images, maps, and more for the Andes-Amazon region of southeastern Peru, and beyond.

Atrium facilitates the collection, organization, and sharing of organismal and ecological information generated by the biologists, ecologists, students, and local field assistants conducting studies in the region from the different ACA field sites: Los Amigos and Wayqechas Research Stations.

With a standard Web browser, viewers can log in to Atrium and search over 5,000 collections that compose the Peruvian plant specimen data and browse over more than 15,000 images. And they can compare plant species between different areas of the tropics, especially between Peru and the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica.

The development and design of Atrium was partially funded by a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation under the initiative to increase knowledge of the AndesAmazon area and to develop new technologies to document and disseminate information about the species and ecosystems in the region.

In 2004, John Janovec, Ph.D., BRIT botanist and head of AABP; Amanda Neill, BRIT collections manager and co-director of AABP; and Mathias Tobler, doctoral student and co-director of AABP, began defining the types of data necessary for a biodiversity information system. Since the release of the initial version in August 2005, the team has added new features, including custom field guides, satellite imagery, bibliographic records, and live mapping of specimen locations.

Moreover, the team has developed a portable version of Atrium that can be taken into the field by researchers, allowing easy access to data and images without requiring an Internet connection. Many new components and datasets will be added during 2006-2007. Atrium can be seen online at: http://atrium.andesamazon.org.

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Amazon Conservation Association (ACA) and its Peruvian counterpart, the Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica (ACCA) are establishing a US$ 1 million trust fund to ensure permanent protection of the Los Amigos Conservation Concession. The trust fund will cover the basic costs of both protecting and monitoring the ecological health of the conservation concession.

Established in 2001, the Los Amigos Conservation Concession is an example of one of the most innovative tools in conservation. Prior to the creation of the Los Amigos Concession, illegal logging and hunting in the area was steadily increasing. The government of Peru lacked the resources to protect the forest and fauna of the area.

Today, thanks to the intervention and management of ACA/ACCA, all illegal logging and hunting activities have completely stopped. Wildlife populations are growing steadily, and ACA’s Research Program in Los Amigos has tremendously helped to increase our understanding of these Amazonian ecosystems.

In setting aside Los Amigos, the Peruvian Government has entrusted us with the care of a large tract of the biologically richest forest on earth. To ensure that this forest is permanently conserved, we need to raise $ 2.78 per acre!

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