Since the second half of the twentieth century Peru has been making enormous efforts to protect biodiversity and currently has an area of nearly 16,5 million hectares of protected natural areas, equal to three times the size of the Republic of Costa Rica.

Without any doubt the Manu National Park, and Biosphere Reserve, is one of the most important areas to conserve the biological diversity of the Amazon and the world, and it is considered one of the areas of greatest diversity of our planet. Over its surface of 4,241,012 acres we can find a diversity of ecosystems and species of enormous importance.

Maximum Diversity of Ecosystems and Species
The Manu National Park comprises ecological levels that go from low jungle at over 980 ft. above sea level up to the peaks of the western range, over 13,000 meters a.s.l., with an impressive variety of environments.

The highest parts, with no forest and comprising wet grassy planes with intense cloud and high rainfall, constitute a representative sample of the wet puna. Here in Akanaku, on the road from Paucartambo to Pilcopata, one can see one of the most spectacular sunrises in the world that was described by Antonio Raimondi more than a century ago. At dawn the sky becomes painted with varied colors and the sun rises from the low jungle among the clouds. The high zone is also the habitat of species of Andean fauna, such as the “tanka taruka” from Cusco and Puno, of the “taruka” and Andean deer, which is endangered of the spectacle bear or “ucumari”, and of the wild guinea pig or “poronccoy”.

The cloud forest on the slopes of the eastern Andes, between 3,280 and 11,480 meters a.s.l., very wet and intricate, contain a very high biodiversity of plants and animals with numerous endemic examples. In terms of flora it is the paradise of orchids, araceas, ferns and various species of Peruvian bark tree which appears on the Peruvian Coat of Arms. There may not be another area on the planet with such a diversity of orchids and on one single tree it is possible to find more than 10 species growing amongst the mass and lichen. This zone also contains several varieties of wild potato, the ancestor of the domestic potatoes. The forest provide shelter for very characteristic birds, from the Quetzal or “Pilco” to the Cock of the Rocks or “Tunqui”, considered Peru’s national bird, and the Andigea genus of the toucans, typical of the cloud forest. It is also the preferred habitat of the spectacled bear or “ucuman”, which finds its food in wild pineapples and in the heart of the midget palms.

The low jungle or Amazon tropical forest, under 3,280 meters a.s.l., is the most extensive and the most studied of the Manu National Park. Here the tropical forests and the rivers enclose a very high diversity of species of flora and fauna. The aquatic environments (rivers, swamps, and lakes or “cochas”) shelter more than 300 species of fish; four species of caiman or alligator; and the best populations of the giant otter of the Amazon, the largest otter known. The diversity of monkeys or primates reaches its peak here, as does the number the number of felines or wild cats. In the Manu National Park one can find almost all the felines of South America, such as the jaguar, the puma, the ocelot, the “yaguarundi”, the “huamburushu” and the tiger cat or margay.

In these forests more than 1,000 species of birds have been classified and it is possibly the protected area with the greatest diversity of birds in the world. The most outstanding are the harpy eagle, that is now so rare in the jungle and that hunts monkeys and sloths among the tree tops. One of the most surprising aspects is that in a square kilometer or 100 hectares, it is possible to identify more species of birds than can be found in the whole of Europe, which has more than 10 million square hectares of surface.

Around and in the Manu National Park there are numerous communities of indigenous people, such as the Haramkbut or Amarakeris, the Machiguengas, the Piros, and even some little known groups that find their last refuge here in face of the pressure of the timber companies and the colonizers

Environment Services
The Manu National Park offers very significant services to the world, today these are known as environmental services and they are essential for the survival of mankind. As Manu is a National Park, the direct use of natural resources is strictly prohibited, and many question whether, in a poor country like Peru, we can afford the luxury of forbidding the use of resources from such an extensive area.

However, the environmental services provided by Manu National Park are essential for the wellbeing of the surrounding populations, for Madre de Dios and for the world.

The Park provides an invaluable service as a reproduction and repopulation center for species utilized by the people of Madre de Dios, such as the fish and the fauna that is hunted by them, like wild pig, “hungana”, deer and others. Many species in unprotected rivers and lakes are over fished and over hunted, and the Park constitutes a very important center of reproduction.