Peru's Newest Protected Area

In October of 2004, The Field Museum led a rapid inventory in northeastern Peru, to the west of the Matsés indigenous community. Scientists found a wilderness sheltering an almost complete representation of Loreto’s world famous biodiversity, from white-sand forests laden with endemic species to stunningly diverse forests growing on rich clay soils. In addition, the forests represent a tremendous cultural value, providing refuge for the Matsés indigenous people and the natural resource knowledge they have accumulated over generations.

After years of dedicated follow-up by the Matsés people, the Peruvian NGO CEDIA, The Field Museum, and the Ministry of the Environment, on August 28th of 2009, the Peruvian government declared Peru’s newest protected area, the Reserva Nacional Matsés (420,635 hectares or 1,039,411 acres). Besides shletering the local flora and fauna, the reserve protects the Gálvez and Yaquerana rivers and the hunting lands and quality of life of the Matsés peoples.

September 21, 2009
For Immediate Release
Contact: Nancy O’Shea,
Field Museum Public Relations
312-665-7100 or media@fieldmuseum.org        

The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Helps Fund Field Museum Conservation Efforts in Amazonian Peru

CHICAGO – The Field Museum announced today that it has received 409,416 euro (approximately $537,344 US dollars) from The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation for a three-year project: Establishing new conservation landscapes in Amazonian Peru.

Ten years of rapid biological inventories by The Field Museum’s Environment, Culture, and Conservation (ECCo) team have resulted in the protection of 12 vast landscapes in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Eight of these areas are in Peru – a total of two million hectares in that country (an area the size of Massachusetts) have been officially declared with full recognition from the national government and 4.2 million additional hectares await final categorization and/or approval from the Peruvian Cabinet.

Ongoing changes in political structure and skyrocketing pressure from extractive industries now threaten these 4.2 million hectares of forests, once close to protection. With the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation funds, ECCo will focus on getting these forests legally secured in the next three years. Simultaneously, ECCo will work with Peru’s NGOs and new Ministry of Environment to continue to pursue compensation for avoided deforestation as a mechanism for investing in living forests.

Just last month, thanks to anticipated funds from The Prince Albert II Foundation, ECCo’s work resulted in a portion of these forests being officially declared a National Reserve. The new reserve, the size of Delaware, is largely dedicated to the indigenous people, the Matsés.

The main direct beneficiaries of the three-year project are the people living in and around the landscapes proposed for protection, as well as the unique biological communities that depend on these areas for survival. Indirect beneficiaries include all residents in the regions to be protected. Because these are enormous expanses, mitigation of global warming through avoided deforestation is another important outcome with wide-ranging, global benefits.

“Opportunities for conservation in the Andean foothills and Amazon lowlands are enormous. Unbroken forests still cover vast expanses of the Amazon. And although fewer intact tracts remain in the Andes, some still stretch from the rainforests in the lowlands all the way up to alpine meadows on the peaks. This generous grant from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation will allow us to work collaboratively with Peruvian organizations and local residents to secure formal protection for these extraordinarily diverse, invaluable forests,” said Debra Moskovits, Senior Vice President, Environment, Culture, and Conservation at The Field Museum.

In 2008, The Field Museum signed a memorandum of understanding with The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation underscoring the institutions’ mutual interest in conserving the world’s biodiversity.

The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation was established in 2006 by HSH Prince Albert to continue to Principality of Monaco’s legacy of environmental stewardship and its commitment to conserve and preserve the world’s natural environment and resources, by supporting sustainable and ethical projects especially in the Mediterranean Basin, the Polar regions and the world’s least developed countries. Its focus is on three main challenges: climate change and developing renewable energies; combating the loss of biodiversity; and water management and fighting desertification. In just three years, the Foundation has extended its international outreach by opening chapters in Europe (France, Switzerland, the UK, Italy and Germany), in Canada and, in 2008, the United States of America. Since its inception, 95+ projects have benefited from Foundation grants totaling more than $20 Million. For more information, please visit www.pa2f.org and www.visitmonaco.com/pa2f.

• Environmental and Conservation Programs

• Cultural Understanding and Change

Annual Report:
2008 ECCo Annual Report

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