The Manu is Peru’s major National Park, and without doubt, the most diverse. If we were able to look at this region from space, we will see that it is an enormous altitudinal transect that goes from the high Andean peaks, at more than four kilometers above sea level. Thanks to the efforts of Peruvian conservationists in coordination with the State, and the work of tenths of scientists, the Manu has managed to maintain its wild flora and fauna intact, and become a natural example of how the Amazon was thousands of years ago.

The jungles of Manu are considered as one of the best preserved territories on the planet, as its forests shelter an extraordinary natural wealth: more than 1300 species of butterflies; 1000 types of different birds; 2000 species of vascular plants; 13 of primates and more than 100 different bats, as well as still unsuspected numbers of insects (lets remember that in just one tree of these forests, more species of ants than the total found in all the British islands were registered). In addition to these, are varieties endangered or under threat of extinction such as the black caiman, the giant river otter, the harpy eagle and even seven species of macaws.

These vast and untouched jungles constitute according to specialists, the most diverse on Earth, reason why they have been declared by UNESCO as Natural Heritage of Humanity. The Manu Biosphere Reserve comprises a group of territories organized under different categories or regimes of use that go from the areas under strict protection to the ones for sustainable use and management of resources.

THE THOUSAND FACES OF THE MANU
The Manu begins close to the sky. At more then 4300 meters above sea level a steep mountain breaks trough between the clouds and dominates the austere landscape of the highlands. The people of this region call it the Apu Kañahuay, which means, “the one who is close to God”.

As we get further away from the Andes humidity increases progressively. The ichu and the rough queñuales give way to strange forests that seem to cling to the steep slopes. Here, the trees have curious forms; small and crooked. These are the dwarf forests; a place populated by flocks of birds of impossible colors and a great variety of strange creatures, which are in their majority, unknown to science. Their trunks, turned by the harshness of a hostile climate, and always bathed by a persistent drizzle, form an impenetrable tangle of lichens and minute flowers. In this scenery, there seems to be a confusion of dimensions: shinning beetles the size of a sparrow and elusive deer – the pudu or sachacabra – of only thirty centimeters of height.

When descending some more, the slope becomes steeper. The mountains get lost in sharp-cut cliffs and the land finally disappears covered by the exuberant vegetation of palms and bamboo forests. The creeks that wander gently through the Andean plains dive towards the east forming turbulent currents and cascades of clear waters that turn into vapor before finishing their fall. We find ourselves in the cloud forests, paradise of orchids and tree ferns, of giant bromeliads, butterflies of astonishing colors and hummingbirds that buzz all around. This world of a moss that covers it all is the home of the tunqui or cock of the rocks – national bird of Peru – and of the Andean bear or ucumari, of the quetzal and the yellow-tailed woolly monkey. A habitat of indescribable beauty but of extreme fragility.

Finally, and after weeks of violent fall, the rivers rest. They slowly flow as red colored snakes while the sediments dragged from the Andes form ample beaches of fine snow. This is the Amazon basin. Here the trees reach the sixty meters of height and their trunks, gifted with fins (buttress roots), so wide that tenths of men holding hands are needed to surround them.

From their branches hang vines as thick as an ox and their large flowered canopies can be seen from the windows of a jet. This is the hunting territory of beautiful and spectacular animals, of jaguars and enormous anacondas. Of tapirs of two hundred kilograms of weight, and rodents the size of a German shepherd dog (the ronsocos); a pack of wild pigs armed with huge fangs (sajinos and huanganas) and creatures that have no changed a bit since prehistoric times (armadillos, anteater and sloths). The trees are shared by a true legion of birds, which go from powerful harpy eagles, monkey eaters of a meter of height, to the small hummingbirds, just a little larger than an insect; going through the noisy parrots and macaws, slender herons, toucans, quetzals, partridges, and even an ungraceful ruminant that feeds exclusively on leaves: the shansho.

The reptiles are also represented in a spectacular manner: from a black lizard, a saurian that can reach the five meters of length that seems to be pulled out of fiction novels, to the mythical anaconda or yacumama, the “mother of water” for the Amazonian natives. Moreover, in the reserve there are other species of caimans, and hundreds of lizards, frogs and snakes, from the colorful coralillo and emerald boa to the feared shusupe and jergon, owners of venom capable of killing a man in just a couple of hours.

If the forests are populated by an incredible variety of creatures with hairs, feathers and scales, the river and lakes of Manu are the refuge of an equally diverse paraphernalia of fishes: catfish, almost blind, of up to a hundreds kilograms that patrol the depths in search of preys guided by their enormous whiskers; banks of piranhas, scale and seed eaters; large pacos and sabalos that feed on fruits and nuts, gifted with powerful molars that patiently await the wet season to collect their food in the inundated forest; eels and macanas that live in a world of electricity, and gigantic migrations of boquichicos that taint the calm waters of silver during their long seasonal migrations.

In sum, life in all its forms in a handful. The Manu is a territory privileged by nature waiting to be discovered by all who respect and value its creatures. A world of sounds and movement where man is barely a casual visitor, and where time is still being determined by the golden rule of survival: hunt or be hunted.

THE FUTURE OF MANU
The sustainable management of a national park such as Manu depends, to a great extent, of the success of a responsible tourism that has the support of the government, with clear laws that benefit both businessmen and visitors. To achieve this we must make the Manu have management plans created by high level professionals and with no conflicts of commercial interest in between. The tourist operators in Manu have suggested the creation of a tourist ticket that allows the establishment of public / private fund advocated to the promotion of the destination, to the attention of emergencies, and to the implementation of a security mechanism in coordination with the National Police and the Regional Direction of Tourism. The authorities must deal with drug trafficking which is attacking the Pilcopata region, before it is too late. The restoration of radar vigilance in the Amazon and the control of the chemicals used in the processing of cocaine will be part of the solution.

Overall, it is necessary to make an effort to shed some light over the benefits of tourism, which is often regarded as an incipient and growing activity. This effort demands an association between the public and private sectors translated into instruments such as Councils and Autonomous Authorities of Tourism that generate Regional Counts of Tourism, and the promotion of local associative activities for the supply of services, ingredients and products directed to the services and tourism sector.

Even though what has been expressed in the lines above seems to suggest a dreary image, we believe there is a hope for the future, and that corruption – Peru’s main problem – will not impose while there is a moral reserve of the honest men and women advocated to planting their roots for life in their region.