LOCATION: HUALLAGA-MARANON, PERU
TARGET SPECIES: YELLOW-TAILED WOOLY MONKEY, SAN MARTIN TITI MONKEY, PERUVIAN NIGHT MONKEY
STATUS: ESTABLISHED AND NEW
Community Conservation worked with Neotropical Primate Conservation (NPC) to create a network of 11 forest reserves managed by the local farmers (read more about the original network of reserves). The 11 participating communities are now integrated in a strong network of community-run reserves, managed by the local farmers. NPC has been helping these communities protect their primate habitat ever since.
Community Conservation is now working with NPC to incorporate four new communities, which will expand the network of community-managed reserves to 15 total. The new communities include:
The Remnant Forests of Morro and Sustainable Titi Monkey Refuge Conservation Concession, San Martín Department
The Remnant Forests of Morro and Sustainable Titi Monkey Refuge Conservation Concession (Concesión para Conservación Bosques Remanentes del Morro y Refugio Sostenible de los Monos Tocones) is being created by the Asociación de Conservación de las Vertientes de Agua de Yantaló (ACVAY).
The 407 hectare conservation concession is located on the north side of a hill called Morro de Calzada in the Yántalo area, not far from the town of Moyobamba, where our partner, NPC, is based. The concession has a diversity of flora and fauna and is home to the critically endangered and endemic San Martin titi monkey (Plecturocebus oenanthe). The contiguous area of Morro de Calzada is a biodiversity reserve that houses more than 200 species of birds and mammals, as well as a large number of reptiles, insects and flora.
The concession area is of vital importance for local communities because it provides drinking water, which benefits Yántalo and other communities surrounding the concession. For this reason, a group of 20 residents has decided to establish an association, ACVAY, whose objective is to conserve the area to promote biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services, as well as the recovery of ecosystems through research, environmental education, restoration, and sustainable economic activities, involving neighboring communities of Calzada and Yantaló.
Delta Conservation Concession plus two additional proposed concessions, Amazonas Department
The 423 ha Iguahana Dry Forests of Delta conservation concession in the Amazonas region is the first reserve to protect the unique Marañon dry forest ecoregion. Iguahuana is the local name of an endemic tree species abundant in the Dry Forest of the Marañon River Valley.
The area is home to many endemic and representative species. Primates in the area include capuchin monkeys and night monkeys.
A collective of local farmers first established the concession area with NPC’s help in 2012. It was the first-ever protected area for this habitat type. Recently, however, with changes in national policies and in the leadership of the concession, the group needs to re-register the concession. In addition, the association has asked for help to set up two other new protected areas with neighboring communities. All of these areas are important for primate conservation and provide water to the surrounding communities and the town nearby.
Shima Waterfall, San Martín Department
The Farmers for the Conservation of the Natural Forests of Simacache are protecting a new area, the Shima Waterfall, or Cataratas de Shima, in the district of Saposoa in the San Martín region. They would like to conserve the waterfalls as an eco-tourism and conservation site, taking the management over from the local municipality.
This is the second site the association would protect, in addition to their first concession, the Gran Simicache. The Gran Simicache is a 38,000 ha reserve about 8 hours upriver, or two days walk, from the city of Juanjui in San Martin. The area is home to some of the least spoilt forests in the region. During surveys, NPC found tufted capuchin monkeys (Sapajus macrocephalus), black-headed night monkeys (Aotus nigriceps), red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus), white bellied spider monkeys (Ateles belzebuth), and a great abundance of tapirs, jaguars and deer. The community association invested a great deal of time, money and effort into their dream to have this special area protected. NPC helped the association with the technical and legal aspects of the reserve creation, and they are now supporting them in maintaining it. This very special area is not easy to protect because of its large size, remoteness and high levels of illegal activity around and inside it.
Pampa del Burro – NPC’s first site, Amazonas Department
During her trip in January 2023, Executive Director Dr. Teri Allendorf also had the opportunity to visit NPC’s first concession, Pampa del Burro, near the community of La Esperanza, where NPC was based for more than a decade before moving to the larger town of Moyobamba a couple of years ago.
Members of the Yambrasbamba community voted in 2012 to conserve an area of the community known as the Pampa del Burro. The reserve was officially registered in June 2013. Since then NPC has continued to help the community, which has demonstrated its dedication to conservation and conservation leadership by efficiently protecting this area as well as more of its lands, and developing tourism and restoration initiatives.
The 2,777 hectare concession includes two kinds of habitat, white sand forest and cloud forest, which are very special habitats home to many different species of endemic and threatened wildlife, including the yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda), Peruvian night monkey (Aotus miconax), white bellied spider monkey (Ateles belzebuth), and the long-whiskered owlet (Xenoglaux loweryi).