Orchid Habitat Restoration and Preservation
Phragmipedium kovachii
Abra Patricia Protected AreaConservation Program for Phragmipedium kovachii
Abra Patricia Protected Area, Region of Amazonas – Peru.
Abra Patricia Protected Area, Region of Amazonas – Peru.
Project Location: Peruvian Northern area (regions of Amazonas and San Martin)
Ecoregions: Peruvian Yungas NT0153,
Person Responsible for Project: Constantino Aucca Chutas
Name of the Organization: Asociacion Ecosistemas Andinos - ECOAN
Type of Organization: NGO
Mailing/Street Address: Urb. La Florida D-1B, District of Wanchaq, Cusco – Peru
Tel/Fax Numbers: +51-84-227988; Fax: +51-84-227988
Website: https://ecoanperu.org/
Duration of this proposal: 06 months
Mount of the project: US$ 12,022
To donate e-mail Constantino Aucca Chutas: caucca@ecoanperu.org
I. Summary
Orchids are one of the most beautiful flowers on earth and as a result are the target of those in the illegal trade who collect them from the wild to sell to collectors. This illegal collecting is often done by people who have no interest in the conservation of species and they often will destroy a complete wild population by taking all available plants leaving none to reproduce in optimum conditions. In addition, they often take advantage of conservation programs which are working to re-introduce lost species in areas where they were originally known to grow by harvesting in those areas.
Abra Patricia is a protected area of approximately 10,000 hectares in a buffer zone of the Alto May Protected Forest (BPAM) in the region of Amazonas and San Martin which is run by the Asociacion Ecosistemas Andinos - ECOAN in cooperation with American Bird Conservancy. The original purpose was to conserve the unique area for bird species, but the area is also a hotspot for biological diversity for plants and animals.
Abra Patricia Protected Area- Birds, Mammals, and Plants
ECOAN’s team is developing many Conservation Estrategies, the main ones are:
A) Protection and restoration of bird habitat: Guarantee the protection of sites where there are species of interest at Abra Patricia and Alto Nieva. This strategy will be accomplished through coordination with local communities and other stakeholders.
B) Monitoring: ECOAN has a research station and signed cooperation agreements with local universities and museums to conduct the research plan for all this area and at the same time prepare many locals to monitor the species of interest.
C) Community outreach and education: Continue local education activities in and around the protected areas to engage local students and parents in the conservation of local resources.
II. Qualifications of individuals conducting the Project
Constantino Aucca (Executive Director); Peruvian biologist, graduated from Cusco University, specialized in ecology and ornithology. He has participated in important international research and conservation projects like BIOTROP with the University of Kansas (1993); birds of the High Andes, with Dr. Jon Fjeldså from the Univ. of Copenhagen (1989-2004); and biological inventories with the Smithsonian Institution (1997-2000); National Geographic (2000). National Representative of Neotropical Bird Club and member of the AZE steering committee.
Founder and current President of ECOAN.
Wily Palomino Condori (Coordinator of the Northern Peru Project), is a field biologist who has spent the last three years as the botanical counterpart of ornithological expeditions conducting biodiversity inventories and ornithological research across the Yungas, Punas and Polylepis forest of Peru. Wily has been directly involved with the habitat characterization in the Alto Mayo Protection Forest in Northern Peru, in projects funded by GTZ. Wily has received scientific and conservation training in Germany and Costa Rica.
Jose Oriel Altamirano, an Environment Engineer who has been working the last three years with ECOAN as a field coordinator for the different projects and recently manager of the Biological station at ACP of Abra Patricia
III. Project Description
The BPAM area is addressing the problem of having more than 5,600 illegal people on the protected area. The majority of these people are engaged in some activities that increase the deforestation inside of the BPAM such as burning, logging, agriculture, cattle and collection of wild species.
The program has proposed a rapid monitoring activity to collect all the data about the current situation of Phragmepedium kovachii and other species for future actions to protect and save those species. There are many schools near the protected area and there is a tremendous opportunity to start an environmental education plan in order to include local communities in conservation activities.
IV. Objective
Effectively protect of the populations of P. kovachii and habitats across key areas.
Activities
Research and Monitoring: Initiate a study that will show the current situation of this species, identifying, threats, population, places, possibilities for land purchasing and others.
Environmental Education: Develop a study plan for educating local people including neighbor localities to the P. kovachii area: El Progreso, Buenos Aires, Pomacochas, Esperanza and Jorge Chavez, including all schools, and in the cities of Rioja, Moyobamba, Pedro Ruiz and Chachapoyas.
V. Scope of the project
All the operations will be focused in Abra Patricia Reserve and Alto Mayo, Amazonas - San Martin (05°56'S 77°31'W; 1700-3200 m). This is an area of disturbed mature montane forest, dwarf forest and secondary forest. There are also cultivated fields and extensive burned areas and timber is being extracted from the forests. The area has extensive nature tourism appeal, especially Abra Patricia, where various ornithological studies have been conducted. More than 400 species of birds have been recorded in the area. Among the threatened and endemic species the outstanding are Xenoglaux loweryi and Grallaricula ochraceifrons. The Abra Patricia Reserve is an Alliance for Zero Extinction site (www.zeroextinction.org).
