Peru: Maran dry forests protected as a regional conservation area
Peru: Marañón dry forests protected as a regional conservation area
by Vanessa Romo on 20 July 2018
Peru has lost much of its dry forest in recent years, to the extent that only around 5 percent remains today. To stop further loss, residents of communities in northern Peru are trying to protect an area of the Marañón dry forests.
Leoncio Vásquez, 51, lives within the boundaries of the new Regional Conservation Area of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests of the Marañón promoted by the Amazonas regional government and declared recently with a Supreme Decree signed by Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra and Minister of the Environment Fabiola Martha Muñoz Dodero. In an interview with Mongabay Latam, Vásquez recalled these efforts began in 2012 when residents of inhabitants of towns of Luya and Chachapoyas organized to halt the construction of two hydroelectric dam projects planned for the Marañón.
Residents of 44 districts who were interviewed said that they were once enthusiastic about these dams because of the potential creation of new jobs before they started to understand the radical transformation that these projects would have on their lives. The greatest threats were flooding of their lands, deforestation and other types of alteration of the surrounding ecosystem. With this in mind, they developed a proposal to create a protected area.
. . .
Unique biological richness
In 2012, the Amazonas regional government prioritized five biodiverse conservation areas, which included the Marañón dry forests. In total, this ecosystem covers an area of approximately 373,000 hectares, lies between 600 and 1,200 meters (1,970 and 3,940 feet) above sea level between the central and western Andes Mountains, and is surrounded by large rocky walls. In the middle of it all runs the wide Marañón River.
There are 143 endemic plant species in the Marañón dry forests that are found nowhere else in the world. This
ecosystem is unique in Peru, as it is home to a high level of biodiversity in a small area.
Photo courtesy of Michell León / NCI
More:
https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/peru-maranon-dry-forests-protected-as-a-regional-conservation-area/
Environment and energy:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127118608