Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Regional Conservation Area (ACRCTT; Spanish: Área de Conservación Regional Comunal Tamshiyacu Tahuayo) is a protected area located south east of

Iquitos Iquitos (; ) is the capital city of Peru's Maynas Province and Loreto Region. It is the largest metropolis in the Peruvian Amazon, east of the Andes, as well as the ninth-most populous city of Peru. Iquitos is the largest city in the world th ...

, extending over the

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

vian

department of Loreto Loreto () is Peru's northernmost department and region. Covering almost one-third of Peru's territory, Loreto is by far the nation's largest department; it is also one of the most sparsely populated regions due to its remote location in the Amaz ...

, provinces of Maynas ( district of Fernando Lores),

Ramón Castilla Ramón Castilla y Marquesado (; 31 August 1797 – 30 May 1867) was a Peruvian ''caudillo'' who served as President of Peru three times as well as the Interim President of Peru (Revolution Self-proclaimed President) in 1863. His earliest pr ...

( district of Yavarí) and Requena (district of Sapuena and district of Yaquerana). It was established by the Peruvian Ministry of Environment (MINAM; Spanish: Ministerio del Ambiente) on May 15, 2009. The reserve is managed and funded by the Regional Government of Loreto. Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Regional Conservation Area spans an area of 4,200.8 km² (420,080.25 ha; 1'038,040.9 acre; 1,621.94 sq miles) comprising floodable and upland forest of the

Peruvian Amazon Peruvian Amazonia ( es, Amazonía del Perú) is the area of the Amazon rainforest included within the country of Peru, from east of the Andes to the borders with Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and Bolivia. This region comprises 60% of the country and ...

. It is known for its abundant wildlife. It has high levels of biodiversity. Hundreds of species of

mammals Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

primates Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

and

reptiles Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the Class (biology), class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsid, sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, Squamata, squamates (lizar ...

have been documented, including several that are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

as well as either endangered or threatened. The reserve was established to conserve

ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

of upland and floodable rainforests, as well as ecological and evolutionary processes of the area, guaranteeing the sustainable use of the

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...

by the local population. Tamshiyacu Tahuayo has several research and tourist activities focused on wildlife-spotting, including camping, hiking, boating, bird watching and fishing.

History

Much research had been conducted in this area since the mid-1970s. Between 1980 and 1990 the importance of conserving the area was highlighted due its unique and vast biodiversity, especially the high diversity of primates as the threatened red bald uakari (''

Cacajao calvus ucayalii The bald uakari (''Cacajao calvus'') or bald-headed uakari is a small New World monkey characterized by a very short tail; bright, crimson face; a bald head; and long coat. The bald uakari is restricted to várzea forests and other wooded habitat ...

''), endemic to Peru, as well as other species recently recorded as the ''

Ranitomeya uakarii ''Ranitomeya'' is a genus of dart poison frogs found in Panama and South America south to Peru and Brazil, possibly into Bolivia. Taxonomy In 2006 Grant ''et al.'' revised the systematics of poison dart frogs and placed many species formerly cla ...

''. During the 1980s, the Peruvian government noted the unusual number of primates produced by this region and so in the early 1980s biologist Pekka Soini (who later became renowned for his conservation work with Amazon turtles in the Pacaya Samiria) and his assistant Rogelio Castro, conducted the first primate population survey under the auspices of IVITA (the Peruvian Instituto Veterinario de Investigaciones Tropicales y de Altura). In 1984 University of Illinois primatologist Paul Garber and his student Richard Bodmer came from the United States to further study the mammalian ecology. Evidence of the regions ecological importance continued to grow. Additionally, local villages of the Tahuayo River and the Blanco River had long grown tired of the exploitation and degradation of natural resources in the area which had started in the 1970s. In the late 1980s conservationist Greg Neise and Richard Bodmer worked with the communities of the Tahuayo River to develop a plan to have the region recognized as a community reserve. A few years later the passage of Propuesta Tecnia by the province of Maynas become a reality. On June 19, 1991 with the enactment of Executive Resolution #080-91-CR-GRA-P. The reserve was declared a community reserve and named Reserva Comunal Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo (RCTT) after two of its major boundary rivers. Initial conservation efforts in the RCTT were funded by the Rainforest Conservation Fund (RCF), based in Chicago and headed by Neise. Unfortunately, during the first ten years of its creation the legal protection of the RCTT failed as commercial loggers and fisheries exploited many resources. The situation was made worse due to the anti-conservationist sentiments heading the regional government of Loreto. The governor at the time, Robinson, was opposed to expanding or even honoring any existing conservation measures. The reserve was on the brink of collapse. However, in 2006 the election of pro-conservation candidate Yvan Vasquez as regional president of Loreto renewed support for Tahuayo conservation. Soon after Vasquez election the reserve was expanded in size to over a million acres (over 440,000 hectares) and given added legal protection. On May 21, 2007, the Regional Government of Loreto signed the Ordenanza Regional 011-2007-GRL-CR that approved the technical proposal for the establishment of the protected area. The proposal was signed at a ceremony held at Amazonia Expeditions Amazon Research Center. A few years later on May 15, 2009 the proposal was ratified by the national government of Peru in Lima, the Ministry of Environment signed the Decreto Supremo 010-2009-MINAM, law that officially created the Area de Conservation Regional Communal Tamshiyacu Tahuayo (ACRCTT).

Geography

ACRCTT is located within the Department of Loreto, in the north of Peru. It is 420,080.25 ha (4,200.8 km²; 1’038,040.9 acres) in area. The reserve comprises

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s, canals,

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s, several types of upland and lowland forests including varzea, igapo, and terra firme.

Biology and ecology

The conservation area includes part of the

Iquitos várzea The Iquitos várzea (NT0128) is an ecoregion of flooded forest along rivers in Brazil, Peru and Bolivia in the west of the Amazon biome. The forest is seasonally flooded up to by whitewater rivers carrying nutrient-rich sediment from the Andes. T ...

ecoregion. ACRCTT has many world records on diversity of plants, primates and mammals species.

Flora

ACRCTT has habitat that supports a known 1650 species of plants, however it is estimated that there are 2500-3500 species of plants in ACRCTT. It is possible to find trees such cedar (''

Cedrela odorata ''Cedrela odorata'' is a commercially important species of tree in the chinaberry family, Meliaceae, commonly known as Spanish cedar or Cuban cedar; it is also known as cedro in Spanish. Classification The genus ''Cedrela'' has undergone two m ...

''), mahogany (''

Swietenia macrophylla ''Swietenia macrophylla'', commonly known as mahogany, Honduran mahogany, Honduras mahogany, or big-leaf mahogany is a species of plant in the Meliaceae family. It is one of three species that yields genuine mahogany timber (Swietenia), the othe ...

''), and others.

Fauna

In 2003 the Chicago Field Museum’s Rapid Biological Inventory, found in the ACRCTT 240 species of fish, 77 species of amphibians, 45 species of reptiles, 400 species of birds, and 39 species of terrestrial mammals, including 14 species of primates. Subsequent research has increased the totals to over 110 species of terrestrial mammals (Michael Valqui, doctoral thesis, University of Florida), over 600 species of birds (Dr. Carol Foss, Noam Shaney, Alfredo Begazo, Josias Tello, Andy Bicerra) and at least 16 species of primates, including a new species of saki monkey being described by Dr. Janice Chism (Winthrop University). Some of the wildlife that inhabits the ACRCTT area are monkeys the huapo Colorado or red bald uakari (''Cacajao calvus ucayalii''), the squirrel monkey (''

Saimiri sciureus The Guianan squirrel monkey (''Saimiri sciureus'') is a species of squirrel monkey from Guiana, Venezuela and Brazil. ''S. sciureus'' formerly applied to Humboldt's squirrel monkey and Collins' squirrel monkey, but genetic research in 2009 an ...

''), the red howler monkey ('' Alouatta seniculus''); the pink dolphin (''

Inia geoffrensis The Amazon river dolphin (''Inia geoffrensis''), also known as the boto, bufeo or pink river dolphin, is a species of toothed whale classified in the family Iniidae. Three subspecies are currently recognized: ''I. g. geoffrensis'' (Amazon rive ...

''), the grey dolphin (''

Sotalia fluviatilis The tucuxi (''Sotalia fluviatilis''), alternatively known in Peru ''bufeo gris'' or ''bufeo negro'', is a species of freshwater dolphin found in the rivers of the Amazon basin. The word ''tucuxi'' is derived from the Tupi language word ''tuchu ...

''), the brown-throated sloth (''

Bradypus variegatus The brown-throated sloth (''Bradypus variegatus'') is a species of three-toed sloth found in the Neotropical realm of Central and South America. It is the most common of the four species of three-toed sloth, and is found in the forests of South ...

''), the capybara (''

Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris The capybaraAlso called capivara (in Brazil), capiguara (in Bolivia), chigüire, chigüiro, or fercho (in Colombia and Venezuela), carpincho (in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and ronsoco (in Peru). or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydro ...

''), the spectacled caiman ('' Caiman crocodilus''), the black caiman ('' Melanosuchus niger''), the South American tapir (''

Tapirus terrestris The South American tapir (''Tapirus terrestris''), also commonly called the Brazilian tapir (from the Tupi ''tapi'ira''), the Amazonian tapir, the maned tapir, the lowland tapir, the ''anta'' ( Portuguese), and ''la sachavaca'' (literally "bushc ...

''), the giant river otter (''

Pteronura brasiliensis The giant otter or giant river otter (''Pteronura brasiliensis'') is a South American carnivorous mammal. It is the longest member of the weasel family, Mustelidae, a globally successful group of predators, reaching up to . Atypical of mustel ...

''), the giant anteater (''

Myrmecophaga tridactyla The giant anteater (''Myrmecophaga tridactyla'') is an insectivorous mammal native to Central and South America. It is one of four living species of anteaters, of which it is the largest member. The only extant member of the genus ''Myrmecoph ...

''), giant armadillo (''

Priodontes maximus The giant armadillo (''Priodontes maximus''), colloquially ''tatu-canastra'', ''tatou'', ''ocarro'' or ''tatú carreta'', is the largest living species of armadillo (although their extinct relatives, the glyptodonts, were much larger). It live ...

''), jaguar (''

Panthera onca The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

''), the Amazonian manatee ('' Trichechus inunguis''), the wattled curassow ('' Crax globulosa''), the hoatzin (''

Opisthocomus hoazin The hoatzin ( ) or hoactzin ( ), (''Opisthocomus hoazin''), is the only species in the order Opisthocomiformes. It is a species of tropical bird found in swamps, riparian forests, and mangroves of the Amazon and the Orinoco basins in South Ameri ...

''), the harpy eagle ('' Harpia harpyja''), among others.

Climate

ACRCTT is located on the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

, near the

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

. This protected area is located on the lowland jungle (Spanish: selva baja) also known as Omagua region or Amazon basin. It has annual temperatures ranging from 25 °C (77 °F) to 33 °C (91 °F) and an annual rainfall of

Tourism and activities

It is possible to visit the ACRCTT year-round, however, the busiest season for visitors is from June to August, this is also the high tourist season throughout Peru. As of 2018, there are several tourism facilities operating in areas near the ACRCTT with the ability to offer excursions into the reserve. Most tourism facilities are a 3-4 hour speed boat ride from Iquitos. Many of these lodges offer private bungalows with private bathrooms and most lodges have electricity, some, via solar power. Tahuayo Lodge, Grand Amazon Lodge
Muyuna Lodge
Curassow Lodge, Aqua Expeditions Lodge are all built within the border areas of the reserve as no new construction is permitted within the reserves formal boundaries. The only tourism facility located entirely within the reserve is Amazonia Expeditions secondary lodge, the Amazon Research Center Lodge, this is the only man made structure that exists within the over 1 million acre conservation area as it was grandfathered in after the creation of the reserve. Visitors partake in

boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether Motorboat, powerboats, Sailing, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sp ...

on rivers, lagoons and oxbow,

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

and

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

, these activities are focused on wildlife observation. Also travelers may fish and navigate the Amazon River. ACRCTT has great biodiversity and spans over an important

flyway A flyway is a flight path used by large numbers of birds while migrating between their breeding grounds and their overwintering quarters. Flyways generally span continents and often pass over oceans. Although applying to any species of migrati ...

migratory birds Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by ...

hence it is popular for bird watching and bird photography also.

References

Bibliography

* The Field Museum (2003), ''Rapid Biological Inventories 11 Peru: Yavarí''
Rapid Biological Inventory 11
* Puertas, Eloy (1999), ''Hunting Effort Analysis In Northeastern Peru: The Case Of The Reserva Comunal Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo'', University of Florida (1999)

External links

Law of establishment of the ACRCTT

Regional Government of Loreto

Article about visiting the Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo Reserve
{{Authority control National Reservations of Peru Geography of Loreto Region Tourist attractions in Loreto Region Protected areas established in 2009 2009 establishments in Peru