NEW IN PERU
A team of researchers from Conservation International conducted a survey in the heart of Peru during the summer of 2022. Their rapid assessment bulletin was just now published. In their report, Conservation International’s Rapid Assessment Program team (a kind of biologist Special Forces unit, like the Green Berets but instead of suppressed rifles and thermal goggles they come carrying microscopes and PhDs in butterfly reproduction) revealed a remarkable diversity in Peru’s Alto Mayo region. That diversity may not seem surprising, given that the area is nestled between the Andes in the west and the Amazon in the east, but it is so due to the group’s chosen sampling locations within that region.
Unlike more typical biological research in this area, commonly focussing on more pristine ecological reserves, such as the Alto Mayo Protected Forest, this study focussed on spots near more human-dominated areas adjacent to the cities, towns, and agricultural areas of the region. They chose these sites specifically because of the region's high population density and the accompanying rapid deforestation and farmland expansion, all of which potentially pose obvious threats to many species.
Of course, protecting those very threatened species was the ultimate goal of the survey. And, to do so, the team’s work was intended to aid community members and local government in establishing a comprehensive management plan to enhance local livelihoods while, in turn, helping preserve populations of rare and vulnerable organisms.
