Expanding protected habitat for wildlife in the Peruvian Andes
03/31/2021
Strategic Area:
Species -
Content Type: Blog
Country:
Peru -
With support from donors like you, a Peruvian community expanded a private conservation area in one of the world’s most biodiverse ecoregions.
The community-owned Llamapampa – La Jalca Private Conservation Area has been enlarged by 21,530 acres, saving essential habitat for the spectacled bear and a critically-endangered primate. The expansion means the area is now protecting a total of 64,700 acres in one of the world’s most biodiverse ecoregions.
Located in the Peruvian Andes, Llamapampa – La Jalca was created in 2015 as a private conservation area, owned and managed by the rural community La Jalca. At the time, a nearby mining concession restricted the area’s perimeter. When the mining concession expired in 2018, Nature and Culture seized an opportunity for additional protection and began supporting La Jalca with the expansion.
Declared on March 19, the expansion comes at a critical time, as activities like unsustainable agricultural practices rapidly devastate the region’s forest and rich biodiversity.
Llamapampa – La Jalca sits in the highly biodiverse yungas ecoregion, a band of forest wedged between the Peruvian Andes to the west and the Amazon rainforest to the east. Its forest and paramo grasslands contain an abundance of wildlife, with Llamapampa – La Jalca confirmed so far to host 130 species of flora, 65 species of birds, and 29 mammal species. Charismatic species in the area include the vulnerable spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) and critically-endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Oreonax flavicauda), found only in Peru.
The expanded area will preserve a water source key to populations along the nearby tributaries, cities like department capital Chachapoyas. According to Lleydy Alvarado, a project coordinator at Nature and Culture, Llamapampa – La Jalca is also an ideal landscape for ecotourism.
“Thanks to the establishment and expansion of Llamapampa – La Jalca, together with the committed La Jalca community, we can conserve critical ecosystems services that the yungas and paramos provide to humanity,” says the specialist.
Since 2015, La Jalca has handled the protection and management of the private conservation area with technical support and trainings from Nature and Culture. Additionally, our team supports community members with sustainable agriculture and livelihood alternatives such as ecotourism. This support and the expansion of Llamapampa – La Jalca was made possible thanks to World Land Trust, Andes Amazon Fund, and generous donors like you.
With your help, Nature and Culture’s team in Peru will continue to work with local communities to ensure effective and lasting conservation impact in the Peruvians Andes.
Thank you for making this achievement possible! We hope that this bit of good news inspires you to continue fighting for nature and culture.
Learn more about your impact in the Andes here.
