Where We Are
Camino Verde’s work is focused in the Tambopata river basin in the department of Madre de Dios, Peru. As part of the Amazon basin, the Tambopata River watershed participates in the world’s largest freshwater system. The Amazon region’s many incredible attributes in terms of water volume, oxygen production, and biodiversity are well known and need no repeating here (for further information, see our links).
The Tambopata-Candamo Reserve is an important protected area that has been recognized as a biodiversity Hot Spot and is considered by some to be the most biodiverse place on Earth. Just a few of the biodiversity superlatives garnered by this region: highest number of bird species seen in one place in a single day; highest overall number of recorded species of butterfly, dragonfly, and amphibian; more tree species present in a single hectare of forest than in all of North America or Europe. Tambopata’s position adjacent to the Andes and mountain weather patterns make for a unique microclimate home to hundreds of endemic (only occurring here) species. The close proximity to Manu National Park (one of the world’s largest wilderness areas) and Bahuaja-Sonene National Park includes the region in an important corridor of conservation. Even for the Amazon, the Tambopata region is stunningly biodiverse and extraordinarily fragile.
Sadly, the region’s forests and rivers face increasing pressures from migratory agriculture, irresponsible lumber extraction and reckless gold mining. The construction of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, linking Brazilian commerce to Peru’s pacific ports, threatens Madre de Dios with ecological devastation and yet offers the historically isolated region its first real opportunity for trade and economic development. The double edged sword of the highway’s construction, which is already underway, necessitates careful assessment and protection of economic and ecological resources; unfortunately, little research or legislature has appeared in defense of the region’s green treasures.
Camino Verde is positioned within one of the Earth’s last remaining tropical forest regions to be left untouched by global commerce. It is our mission to play an active role in the defense of biodiversity and the improvement of the quality of life of local people through stringently fair and sustainable means.
About Madre de Dios:
Area: 85,182 sq km (32,889 sq miles), roughly the size of South Carolina, Maine, or Austria
6.6% of the total territory of Peru
Population (as given unofficially by the regional government in 2008): 110,000
Neighbors: the Peruvian departments of Cusco, Puno, and Ucayali; Pando, Bolivia; Acre, Brazil
About the Peruvian Amazon:
Total area: 763,819 sq km (294,910 sq m), an area bigger than Texas, equivalent to the size of Chile or Turkey
57.6% of the total territory of Peru
13.2% of the total Amazon forest
7.3% of the planet's rainforests
Contains the departments of Loreto, Madre de Dios, and Ucayali, and parts of the departments of Amazonas, Cajamarca, Cusco, Huánuco, Junin, Pasco and San Martín
See Wikipedia´s entry on the Peruvian Amazon.
