General outlines

In the past we got Emails from national and international students and scientists who want to do investigations in our rainforests of the Cordillera Oriental or other sites. As Tarapoto is the only city with good infrastructure which has a maximum of ecosystems close like Lowland Forest, Premontane and Montane rainforests, cloud forests, Paramo, and the severely endangered Amazonian Dry Forest, the opportunities for researchers of all branches are nearly unlimited. At least four large conservation areas are close: the new Parque Regional “Cerro Escalera” just behind Tarapoto (120.000 Ha), Cordillera Azul National Park (1.353.191 Ha), Bosque de Protección Alto Mayo and the Parque Nacional Rio Abiseo-Gran Pajatén. We are working together with Ecofunds NL NGO to establish another National Park with 400.000 Ha, increasing the protection of high endemism East Andean slopes forests up to the tree limit. Other interandean ecosystems are half a day away. From Tarapoto to the Kuelap Preinka ruins or Chachapoyas it is one day drive, the Cordillera del Condor we reach in 10 hours for example.

It is important, that most of the ecosystems around Tarapoto have high amounts of new species of plants and animals with several endemics. Faunal listings in Herpetofauna outnumber other regions of Peru, because we have more ecosystems present with different species sets. Even the Lowland Forest of San Martín, which is an important ancient refuge, has new species or variants of fishes, frogs and snakes- see: New outcomes and discoveries