Map: Revista Viajeros Año 1 No. 4. Junio 2003
The Yavarí and Yavarí river valleys supply the Tamshiyacu – Tahuayo Communal Reserve (RCTT) peripheral areas with hunting animals. This natural type of wild game is called source-sink. The excess wildlife helps maintain the viability of the major hunting zones. The benefits obtained from this resource are the base of the regional economy for the towns located on the Orosa, Mantí, Tamshiyacu, Tahuayo, Yarapa, Gálves, Yaqwerena, Islandia, Angamos, Caballacocha, Pevas, San Pablo, Nauta, Santa Rosa, and Requena rivers. Of all the wild game extracted from this zone, the inhabitants consume approximately 25%, while the rest is available commercially to the Iquitos population.
In this zone, rural settlers depend on the nutritional resources provided by the Yavarí Mirín river basin for social and economic development. It is estimated that around 113,000 mammals are taken for hunting each year. According to the Technical Establishment File for the \”Yavarí Reserve Zone,\” presented in 2003 by INRENA for the Conservation, Research, and Natural Area Management Center, this is valued at $1,132,000.
In this zone wild game hunting should be managed so that it remains sustainable. It the supply were exhausted, there would be dire negative consequences for the rural economy. In other words, in order to maintain this benefit provided by the Yavarí valley and the Yavarí Mirín river basin, it is necessary to establish a regulation system to avoid shortages of game.
The need to establish hunting controls is not the only reason supporting conservation of this area. This zone possesses great biodiversity, in which three principal types of forest are found: highland forest or forests that are not subject to seasonal flooding, lowland forest, and moist forest. In addition, it includes three life zones.
The Yavarí Mirín river basin, integrated by great extensions of low forest, is one of the few places where remote predator communities still inhabit. According to GEO Andino 2003 Perspectivas del Medio Ambiente (Environmental Perspectives), the natural ecological processes maintained here are positioned among some of the greatest biological abundance in the world.(1) Among the numerous flora and fauna species that have yet to be classified, a great number of species are threatened or in grave danger of extinction.
The faunal studies done in the Yavarí valley and the Yavarí Mirín river basin have cataloged up to 301 species of fish. Among these is the Arapaima (Arapaima Gigas), which is of great commercial value, and the Rainbow wrasse (Coris julis). Both species are victims of over fishing in various places in the Amazon.
With respect to birds, 550 species are estimated to live in these parts (austral emigrants, boreal and intra-tropical). Hunting and trading has caused some of these species to be placed on the endangered species list. Among these are the Hawk-head Parrot (Deroptyus accipitrinus), White-lored Antpitta (Hylopezus berlepschi), Guiana Crested Eagle (Morphnus guianensis), and the Wattled Curassow (Crax globulosa).
There are also animals living in the Yavarí valley and the Yavarí Mirín river basin that are difficult to observe because they are so rare. Among the 76 identified amphibians species and the 40 identified reptile species, are the non-venemous South American Coral snake (tortrix scytale) and a new species of Hylidae, black spattered with yellow and white spots.
There have been 50 mammalian species registered in the zone. Among these are the Red Bald-headed Saki (Cacajao calvus rubicundus), the short-eared dog (Atelocynus microtis), the Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestris), the Giant River Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), and the manatee (Trichechus manatus).
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS/Peru) and the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) from the University of Kent, England, run by Dr. Richard Bodmer, have been doing research Yavarí valley and the, have been doing research Yavarí valley and the Yavarí Mirín river basin for 15 years. In addition, these institutions have employed conservation techniques in the region with the help of conservationists and representatives from universities and governmental institutions.
The principal action of this joint project has been to mitigate the direct impact of intensive hunting in the zone, in a way that does not affect the socio-economic and political norms of the region. A communal management program for wild life within the new protected area concession for conservation was established in Yavarí Mirín.
This initiative was completely supported by the neighboring communities that receive few benefits from the government. Because of their deficiencies, they showed great interest in managing the wild life populations to ensure their rights to the land. The communal management of the Yavarí valley and the Yavarí Mirín river basin will permit its own people to establish areas free from hunting, completely protected and compatible with the areas where hunting is permitted under sustainable game use strategies.
Lily Rodríguez, doctor of Biology from the Centro de Conservación, Investigación, y Manajo de Áreas Naturales, considers the proposals from timber companies seeking land concessions to extract the forest resources to be principal threats to the creation of this protected area. The most coveted areas are those to the north of the Yavarí valley, along the Esperanza River and the Yavarí Mirín lowlands. At the same time, some communities of the Yavarí lowlands consider the possibility of migrating toward the unoccupied zones of Yavarí Mirín.
The declaration of this reserve, Rodríguez told us, depends on the political will and the political scene. Because of this, we will be at the proposal level for a reserved zone for quite some time. The protection or degradation of the Yavarí valley and the Yavarí valley and the Yavarí Mirín river basin depend on the interests and the conscience of the country\’s governors.
ParksWatch-Peru: November 2003
By: Inés Vera Pinzás
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Notes:
1 \”Los procesos ecológicos naturals que aquí se mantienen son de and abundancia biológica posicionada entre las mas del mundo.\”
2 \”La titulación de esta reserva depende de la voluntud política y excenario político. Por esto, estaremos en calidad de propuesta para zona reservada por un tiempo.\”