Peru creates three new Amazon protected areas

Peru has created three new protected areas in the northern Amazon territory of Loreto, covering an area of nearly 600,000 ha, roughly the size of Brunei. The new areas of protected Amazon rainforest harbor one of the highest biological and cultural diversities worldwide and comprise the Huimeki Communal Reserve, the Airo Pai Communal Reserve, and the Güeppi-Sekime National Park along the border of Ecuador and Colombia. “I want to share really good news for conservation, for the country, its territory and the people who inhabit it,” said Peru’s Minister of the Environment Manuel Pulgar Vidal. This recent development consolidates the Putumayo Trinational Conservation Corridor, a joint effort by the governments of Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. It is an example of excellent trans-boundary cooperation and a joint effort with indigenous communities (kichwa, huitoto, secoya) in natural protected areas management. Its potential for replication throughout the region would significantly accelerate the conservation of the Amazon. The announcement is set to benefit not only the local population, but it is also welcome news for neighboring countries Ecuador and Colombia. “(It) is an achievement not only in favor of biodiversity conservation, but in favor of the local population as well, which is currently committed to working side by side with the national parks service,” said Johana Deza, WWF Coordinator of the Putumayo Tres Fronteras Project “It is a decision that deserves all our support and fills us with joy”, she said. At the recently concluded UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Hyderabad, WWF was encouraged to see a number of promising signs of leadership from developing nations, highlighted by India’s US$50 million commitment to invest in biodiversity domestically and in other developing nations. Peru, Colombia and Ecuador’s efforts to better protect their biological treasure trove is one of many recent examples of regional and trans-boundary cooperation to ensure the future of the world’s richest assets.