Introduction

The amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the World. The majority of
the forest is contained within Brazil, with 60% of the rainforest, followed by
Peru with 13%, Colombia with 10%.

The reason I decided to talk about the Peruvian Rainforest is because it has
a huge biodiversity; One in ten known species in the world lives in the
Amazon rainforest. This constitutes the largest collection of living plants and
animal species in the world. Nowadays this rainforest has been endangered
due to human activities.

This biome is really important, not only for the wild life but also for human
beings. Across the rivers in the Amazon rainforest circulates a 15% of the
fresh of the planet. In addition, it contributes in the production of oxygen and
helps us to fight against the global warming.

Nowadays this rainforest has been endangered due to human activities.

Mining, as well as Logging, are the most harmful activities for this ecosystem.
Environmentalists are concerned about loss of biodiversity that will result
from destruction of the forest, which could accelerate global warming.

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 Peruvian Amazonia

The Peruvian Amazonia is the area of the Amazon rainforest included within the
country of Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and Bolivia. This region comprises 60%
of Peru and it has a great biodiversity. Peru has the second-largest portion of the
Amazon rainforest after the Brazilian Amazon.

Most Peruvian territory is covered by dense forests on the east side of the Andes,
yet not many people live in this area.

1. Ecoregions and climate:

The Peruvian Amazon is traditionally divided into two distinct ecoregions:

1.1. The Lowland Jungle:

This region is also known as Omagua region, Walla, Anti, Amazonian

rainforest or Amazon basin. This ecoregion is the largest of Peru, standing
between 80 and 1,000 meters above sea level. It has very warm weather
with an average temperature of 28 °C and a high humidity. Its soils don’t
have many nutrients because of high temperatures and high rainfalls.

The jungle contains long and powerful rivers such as the Apurimac, Mantaro,
Amazon, Urubamba, Ucayali, Huallaga, Marañón, Putumayo, Yavarí, Napo,
Pastaza, Madre de Dios, Manu, Purus, and Tigre. The Pacaya-Samiria
National Reserve, the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve and the
Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Regional Conservation Area are within the forest.

1.2. The Highland Jungle:

This region is also called Rupa Rupa region, Andean jungle, Ceja de Selva.
It is located between 1,000 and 3,800 m above the sea level. It possesses a
great variety of fauna and flora because of the different altitudes and
climates within the region. Temperatures are warm in the lowlands and

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 cooler in higher altitudes. There are many endemic fauna because of the
isolation caused by the terrain of the area.

2. Biodiversity:

The Peruvian Amazon jungle is one of the most biologically diverse areas on Earth.
As a nation, Peru has the largest number of bird species in the world and the third-
largest number of mammals; 44% of bird species and 63% of mammal species
inhabit the Peruvian Amazon. Peru also has a very high number of species of
butterflies, orchids, and other organisms.

The Amazon River is home to fishes like the paiche which can grow to four meters
and cetaceans like the pink dolphin, which gives great entertainment when want to
call attention off the boats. Its figure of these dolphins is surrounded by indigenous
legends and now is in serious danger of extinction. Also there are reptiles and
many species of aquatic and terrestrial turtles, alligators, crocodiles and many
snakes, including the anaconda, the largest snake in the world, etc.

There isn’t any other ecosystem in the world with so many species of birds, among
these include macaws, toucans, and lots of other species, usually colorful plumage.
20% of the world's species of birds is found in the Amazon forest. Some mammals
that live in this ecosystem are:

 Sloth Bears:

The sloth bear is one of the slowest mammals in the

world. It is one of the most representative animals of
Peruvian Amazon wildlife. They are seriously
threatened by the destruction of their habitat and
commercialization as pets, because they traffickers capture pups and kill
adults.

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  Tapirs:

The most common predators of tapirs are the big cats.

However, their main threat is the human action,
manifested through excessive hunting and habitat
destruction.

 Choro Monkeys:

It’s also known as Choro of yellow tail. This specie is

endemic to the Andes of Peru and is one of 25 most
endangered primates in the world. Amazonas and San
Martin, where are most of the habitat of this species,
are the departments with the highest rate of
deforestation in Peru. The choro of yellow tail is the
largest endemic mammal of Peru; the manatee can
reach a 54 cm long, head and body, being their tails longer than the body,
up to 63 cm.

The Manu Biosphere Reserve is believed to have the highest concentration of bird
species in the world. This huge 1.5 million-ha park has successive tiers of
vegetation rising from 150 to 4,200 m above sea-level. The tropical forest in the
lower tiers is home to an unrivalled variety of animal and plant species. Some 850
species of birds have been identified. The most popular birds for tourists are:

 Toucans:

They feed on fruits, insects and other prey such as small

lizards, pigeons and eggs of other birds. They have been
hunted with some intensity, but the main reason why they
are in endangered of extinction is due to habitat
destruction. Deforestation of rainforests, pollution, and
growth of urban areas are some of its most obvious.

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  Papagayos:

They are also known as Macaws. They live mostly in

warm areas, are good fliers and skilled climbers on
branches and trees. They have a large cranial capacity,
one of the most intelligent bird groups.

 Hummingbirds:

Most hummingbirds exhibit bright. The throat, in males,

may have bright red, blue or emerald green. They feed on
flower nectar and small insects that can be found within
them. To get away from the flowers have to fly backwards,
they are the only birds capable of performing this
maneuver.

The Amazonian fish fauna is the centre of diversity for neotropical fishes. 5,600
species are currently known, and approximately fifty new species are discovered
each year. In the Amazonian rivers we can also find some reptiles as well as
mammals. Of the 300 species of reptiles found here, around 100 are endemic.
Some of the most common species found in those rivers are:

 Giant Otters:

This animal grows to a length of up to 1.8 m, and is

more aquatic than most other otters. The giant otter
inhabits the Amazon River basin, but is becoming
increasingly rare due to poaching, habitat loss, and the
use of mercury and other toxins in illegal alluvial gold
mining.

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  Alligators:

Males reach a length between 1.8 and 2.5 m long and

1.4 m females. They feed on different species of
animals: crustaceans, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds
and small mammals.

 Anacondas:

Is a constrictor snake of the boa family. Of all the snakes

this is the most weight. There have reported cases of
adult humans being attacked or prey. Hunting usually
animals that come to drink, holding them with their jaws
and holding them to wrap around the body and suffocate.

 Pirañas:

They are popularly known for their sharp teeth and

insatiable and aggressive appetite for meat. Contrary to
what the film was released, piranhas don’t usually
attack humans. In fact, the natives quietly bathe in the
waters frequented by these fish, the piranha being an everyday food among
local populations.

 Amazon River Dolphins:

They are also known as the Boto, Bufeo or Pink River

Dolphin. It is the largest species of river dolphin, with
adult males reaching 185 kilograms in weight, and 2.5
metres in length. They have a wide diet, and feed on up
to 53 different species of fish, such as croakers, catfish,
tetras and piranhas. They also consume other animals
such as river turtles and freshwater crabs.

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3. Demography:

Although it is the largest region of Peru, the Peruvian Amazon is the least
populated. It is home to approximately 5% of the country's population. Many
indigenous peoples inhabit the jungle, some in relative isolation from the rest of the
world.

The primary cities located in the Peruvian Amazon include:

❈ Iquitos with 500,000 inhabitants

❈ Pucallpa, with 380,000 inhabitants

❈ Yurimaguas with 140,000 inhabitants

❈ Puerto Maldonado with 104,000 inhabitants

❈ Tarapoto with 181,000 inhabitants

❈ Jaén with 86,743 inhabitants

❈ Moyobamba with 77,000 inhabitants

❈ Bagua with 65,000 inh.

❈ Rioja with 60,000 inh.

4. Illegal logging:

Over the last decades illegal logging has become a serious problem in the
Peruvian Amazonia. In 2012 the World Bank estimated that 80% of Peru’s timber
exports are illegally harvested. This uncontrolled deforestation could negatively
affect the habitats of indigenous tribes, the Peruvian biodiversity and of course the
climate change. Moreover, illegal deforestation might lead to more violent crimes.
This has already been demonstrated on 1 September 2014, when four indigenous
leaders were murdered. These leaders were asking for governmental protection

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against illegal loggers, after being threatened several times. Partly due to this,
illegal loggers are being blamed for the assassination.

4.1. The Emergence Of An Illegal Industry:

In an attempt to support local incomes in the Amazon, the Peruvian

government granted non-transferable contracts to individual farmers to
perform small-scale logging activities. Soon however, big logging
companies started paying individual loggers for the use of their contracts
and established an illegal, large-scale logging industry. In 1992 the
National Institute of Natural Resources was founded to guarantee a more
sustainable use of national resources. Yet, this institution has never been
able to carry out its task due to several reasons. First of all, INRENA
lacked sufficient resources compared with the magnitude of their
responsibilities. Next to this, corruption was a problem in several layers of
the organization.

In 2000 Peru modified the Forestry and Wildlife Law in order to improve the
logging sector. In the subsequent years however, the situation in the
Peruvian timber industry only deteriorated. To some extent this can be
explained by the fact that Brazil illegalised the exports of mahogany from
2001 on. This Brazilian ban is likely to have caused the increase in
Peruvian mahogany exports. Soon after the ban, international institutions
revealed their severe concerns about the state of the Peruvian timber
industry. In particular the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), started paying extra attention to
Peru as the trade in mahogany falls under CITES’ regulation. Albeit the
fact that from then on, one needed special permits for harvesting and
exporting any endangered species, the forestry sector was still far from
sustainable.

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 4.2. Illegal logging with permits:

Although it is understandable that illegal logging cannot be stopped easily

in the Peruvian Amazons, the illegal exportation of timber is supposed to
be more difficult; the shipments are huge and there are very few routes
from the Amazons to the coast. Nevertheless, until now it has been
relatively easy for companies to ship and export illegal timber. Despite the
fact that the Peruvian government claims that it does not know anything
about the method used by these companies, it is common-knowledge.

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) provided a clear picture of

this mechanism in their report The Laundering Machine. According to them,
the biggest flaw in the Peruvian system for years has been the granting of
logging permits: ‘Concessionaires submit for approval lists that do not exist
in the real world, and complicit authorities approve the extraction of this
non-existent wood’. These permits allow companies to transport almost all
sorts of wood out of the country. There are only two ways to stop illegal
loggers: catching them in the act, or, in case of controlling a shipment,
environmental prosecutors have to prove that the timber does not come
from the place written on the permit. With not more than a hundred
environmental prosecutors in Peru, it is not surprising that both methods
are far from effective.

4.3. The American-Peruvian Free Trade Agreement

The international attention levels increased again in 2007, when Peru and
the United States (US) agreed on a new Free Trade agreement (FTA),
which was implemented in 2009. According to the United States Trade
Representative (USTR) the FTA included a number of binding
commitments to ensure environmental protection, focussing on the

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 Peruvian forestry sector. Both parties agreed, amongst others, on the
following measures: establishing an independent forestry oversight body,
penalising those who committed logging crimes, creating new laws,
developing an anti-corruption plan and the US would provide monetary
help. Yet the results are ambiguous. On the one hand proponents claim
that the forestry sector experienced significant improvements. Some
improvements are indeed visible.

The FTA caused a lot of social unrest as indigenous groups expected the
FTA to ‘give incentives for further and irreversible destruction of virgin
rainforest’. Local communities were not the only ones who criticised the
agreement. In 2010 Public Citizen published an article, which stated that,
despite all promises, ‘environmental and labour conditions in Peru have
deteriorated rapidly since the congressional passage of the FTA’.

Notwithstanding who was right, the FTA has not prevented illegal timber
trade between Peru and the US. At least 35% of the Peruvian timber
exports to the US between 2008 and 2010, contained illegal wood. This
percentage however, only covers the trade in species that are regulated by
the CITES. As only very few types of timber fall under this legislation, the
real percentage of illegally harvested timber in Peru is assumed to be
significantly higher.

5. Illegal Gold Mining:

Illegal gold mining is rampant among the Madre de Dios Region of Peru, and is
extremely harmful to the environment. Individuals are mining more gold each year
because of the exponential price hike in this commodity – a 360% surge in the last
ten years. This price surge is driving many people who often are not able to attain
jobs into the gold mining business because of the great financial gain. With the
Interoceanic Highway available, "30,000 miners are estimated to be in operation
without legal permits."

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More mercury is being imported into the country than ever before for mining
purposes because of the price increase. In mining, mercury is used to
“amalgamate gold particles and then burned off – generally without even
rudimentary technology”. The import of mercury for this purpose is shown through
atmosphere and water pollution, directly impacting human, animal, and plant lives
in the area and beyond. Much of this contamination is a result of lack of education
by the people directly mining the gold in Peru. The harmful impacts of gold mining
in Madre de Dios can be seen from space.

6. Illegal Oil Extraction:

Oil extraction is a critical threat to the health of the Peruvian Amazon. While the
land is potentially oil-rich, there are also many indigenous peoples living within the
Amazon rainforest. The Camisea Gas Project on Lot 88 impacts the daily lives of
indigenous residents. Project Camisea has numerous economic benefits, including
savings of up to $4 billion in energy costs, however the environmental and cultural
payoffs are widespread. In 2008, 150,000 square kilometers was set aside for oil
drilling in the Western Amazon, and today that number has grown exponentially to
over 730,000 square kilometers Direct destruction and deforestation often comes
from the creation of access roads for oil and gas extraction. These roads then
become catalysts for other illegal industries such as logging and gold mining.

The plot of land where Camisea is located is on one of the most highly prioritized
areas for biodiversity and conservation. In addition, these oil extraction projects
impact the country through: fish stock decline, deforestation, pollution, disease and
death of indigenous people, and roads and migration. The World Wildlife
Federation concluded that the government has very little power over these oil
sanctions, and there are countless loopholes in the policy, which makes stopping
them in Peru extraction extremely difficult. Additionally, only seven percent of the
oil blocs in the Western Amazon have been extracted, so there is potential for
further illegal exploration in undiscovered areas.

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Conclusions:

The Peruvian rainforest is one of the most important rainforest in the World; due to
its huge biodiversity and its role as “lungs” of the planet. This area supplies wood,
water and food to Amazon’s native people as well as people all around the
continent, because the raw material extracted from this forest is usually exported to
different countries.

Ecotourism is fast becoming one of the most popular types of tourism in the world.
The Amazon is one of the best places to do this. Ecotourism in the Amazon is
already producing profits of over $11.6 million USD per year.

It is necessary to become aware of the problems that are affecting this rainforest
and consider strategies which could stop the processes that damage this biome.
Environmentalists are concerned about loss of biodiversity that will result from
destruction of the forest, which could accelerate global warming.

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References:

 “Peruvian Amazonia”, Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peruvian_Amazonia
 “Amazon River Dolphin”, Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_river_dolphin
 WWF Global, “Why is the Amazon Rainforest Important?”, Source:
http://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/where_we_work/amazon/about_the_a
mazon/why_amazon_important/
 “Amazon Rainforest”, Source:
https://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_importance.htm

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