New conservation area established: Over 11,000 acres of forest protected

An area equivalent to over 8,000 football fields in the heart of the Amazon rainforest is now protected. After years of work supporting the Association of Young Conservationists of Alto Pilcomayo (AJCAP), ACA has helped declare the area of Alto Pilcomayo in the Peruvian Amazon as a protected conservation area.

What makes this new conservation area unique is that it is not owned by a single individual, but rather by the AJPAC association, an organization devoted to conserving the area. Alto Pilcomayo is now a territory where anyone in the AJPAC association can carry out conservation, research, and educational projects in the area as long as the purpose of those projects is to protect the biological diversity in the rainforest.

Alto Pilcomayo is located to the east of the city of Cusco, where the Andes mountains meet the Amazon rainforest. Many endemic species, such as woolly monkeys, Spectacled bears, and many species of amphibians, live in the forest. In addition, a wide variety of orchids bloom here. This area is also a crucial water source to 5,000 people living in the nearby valley of Kosñipata.