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Current Projects Operating at TARICAYA RESEARCH CENTRE

WILDLIFE OBSERVATIONS:

Projects Abroad was officially awarded a 476 hectare reserve at the end of 2004 (Reserva Ecologicà Taricaya) and now we have to produce a technical report every year to justify our work in the area. The data from daily observations is necessary for these reports to demonstrate that the area is recovering from previous disturbances and that our endeavours are having a positive impact on the ecosystem in the newly-created reserve. The information from the canopy, platforms, blinds and walks is crucial for these reports and whilst we know that the area is recovering well we need concrete evidence to satisfy the relevant authorities and hence maintain the concession that was given to us for forty years.

ANIMAL RELEASE PROGRAM:

The concept of releasing captive animals into a safe environment is a popular concept for conservationists worldwide and Taricaya is currently in line to be appointed the first such centre in Peru. Laws did not exist for such centres in Peru and we are pioneering the concept amidst an ongoing battle for rights to sanction the release of confiscated animals. One would assume that the Peruvian government would be delighted with the offer of such a project but we continue to battle for the rights to help them with their enormous problem of illegal exotic pets. With the construction of adequate enclosures we move ever closer to our goal of finally being able to take mistreated animals out of Puerto Maldonado and re-locate them back into their natural habitats.

PILOT FARM:

At Taricaya we are sympathetic to the daily problems that local farmers face. The majority of communities located around Puerto Maldonado are not farmers by tradition but primarily gold miners, rubber barons and brazil nut collectors. Puerto Maldonado was a boom town as little as twenty years ago but the people that flocked to Madre de Dios are not farmers by tradition and as such suffer trying to make the meagre plots of land awarded to them by the government rentable. The riches of the area soon dried up leaving the fortune-seekers high and dry without local knowledge and sufficient means to make them capable farmers. The concept of the pilot farm is to help the locals manage their land efficiently and hence reduce their impact on the surrounding forest. Hunting, fishing, timber extraction, charcoal burning and palm leaf collection are time-consuming and labour intensive activities which they would gladly rescind given the opportunity. We, at Taricaya, are fortunate enough to be able to perform various experiments with crops and productivity that local farmers do not have the luxury of testing. We are now in a position at Taricaya whereby we have created a self-sufficient module for local families. However, there is a problem. Various international charities have tried to work in the area before with concepts designed to revolutionise the lifestyles of the local communities but having brought the locals around to their way of thinking the money has always dried up and the locals have been left high and dry. This has resulted, and justifiably so, in general mistrust of people trying to help. Fortunately after nearly four years of experimentation we are now in a position to help the locals without the need for an initial financial investment by the communities concerned. When people come to us for aid we know that they are receptive to our ideas and the passive approach we have adopted over recent years is finally proving productive. Our combination of livestock management and crop cycling is finally reaching the surrounding communities and, with luck, this concept of "ethno-conservation" is finally bearing fruit.

TRAIL MAINTENANCE:

Due to the hard work of the 450+ volunteers that have visited us over the past five years we have a trail network of over 50 kilometres. The patrolling of our reserve is crucial to the resident fauna as poachers have been known to enter illegally to hunt and a constant monitoring of the area has become a necessary chore. Tropical storms are violent by nature and tree-falls are common so constant monitoring of our trails becomes an unavoidable task to permit access to all corners of the protected area. I am happy to report that incidents of illegal entry have greatly reduced over the last 18 months but we cannot sit back on our laurels and trail maintenance is an essential part of our work in the reserve.

MAHOGANY PROJECT:

This is one of our most exciting and promising projects to date. We are currently investigating potential market value of wood from young mahogany trees as opposed to waiting until the normal 40 years to fell the trees. There is little or no mahogany left in the Amazon due to its high commercial value. Logging techniques involve huge destruction just to reach the trees of value and then the extraction is even worse. We have produced an information booklet on our investigations into the possibility of growing mahogany in small parcels of land with the idea of selective logging in the same area over a total period of ten to twenty years. The University of Agriculture in Lima has analysed the properties of the young mahogany wood and signs are encouraging for a project with large financial gains for the locals and a chance to greatly reduce their impact on the remaining rainforest. The fundamental idea behind the project is allowing the locals to harvest the trees at an early age thus making the idea of long-term plantations redundant. Young mahogany trees have a market value as the wood is negotiable for small-scale business after just five years; hence plantations become viable much earlier than previously thought. Not only is mahogany a feasible resource but we have proved that other plants such as coffee and heliconias can be sewn in the same area giving the locals short-term gain whilst waiting for the larger profitability from the adult trees.

TURTLE PROJECT:

2005 saw a breakthrough after several years with our turtle project. The side-necked turtle (Podocnemsis unifilis) has suffered for decades due to the commercial value of its eggs. Locals can raise large amounts of money, relatively speaking, from the sale of their eggs in the markets of Peru. In Puerto Maldonado the problem is particularly severe and the local communities have relied on this income for several generations. At Taricaya we have liaised with the government authorities concerned and the novel concept of employing the natives to help us has proven very successful. To summarise we enlist the help of the local Ese'eja people in the collection of turtle nests, paying them the same amount that they would receive from the sale of poached eggs. Last year, in conjunction with the local community, we successfully raised and released over 500 young turtles back into the wild. We engraved the young turtles with a code on their shells and this means that future recapture will associate the individuals with our project at Taricaya. This project is temporal between the months of July and September with the eventual release from our artificial beach in December.

Taricaya is also involved with many other projects that operate on smaller timescales. Such investigations involve birds, reptiles, amphibians and medicinal plants to name but a few. In short, your time at Taricaya will help us achieve many goals from the long term to the relatively short-term. Whether you are with us just a few days or several months you can rest assured that we are achieving our goals of conservation in the area and without your help our work would not be possible.

STUART TIMSON

CONSERVATION MANAGER
RESERVA ECOLOGICÀ TARICAYA
MAY 2006


Projects Information | History | Safety | Flora & Fauna