Saving the Amazon Rainforest in Peru…Amazon Yarapa River Lodge

I got an email today from Charles Mango of Amazon Yarapa River Lodge that I thought was well worth spreading the word about.  When I asked permission to post his email on my blog he sent me even more information about saving the Amazon Rainforest and his involvement in Peru.  He needs publicity to help his efforts, so please spread the word. This is important stuff! Here’s what he wrote:

“Recently I have established the first conservation agreement in the Amazon area. This is the first effort of its kind in the Amazon basin. This includes the three villages along the Yarapa as well as the Dept. of Agriculture and INRENA. We now have the entire Yarapa from its mouth to the village of Puerto Miguel under this agreement. No commercial fishing or hunting, and no logging. Also, preservation of the riparian edge of the river and the local flora and fauna. This area runs both sides of the river from its mouth to the lands held by Puerto Miguel. This is about 35 miles or river.

In Feb. of this year the villages united were able to seize a shipment of illegal logs as well as arrest the loggers. This was the first time that villagers were able to stop illegal logging in the Amazon.They were supported be the Agriculture minister in their actions. To establish the legal right to defend their property, I first established titular title for the villages. In return I asked that we establish this Yarapa preserve as well as sign the agreement. This agreement was signed Jan. 10th, 2007 in the village of Puerto Miguel.

We are miles ahead of Brazil in trying to save the rainforest. Their recent article in National Geographic stated that they are trying to repopulate the Amazon with indigenous people in the hope that they would stop the loggers and poachers. If the government will support the local people at the expense of big money from the loggers was not answered. The people were removed from the land by or with government help to allow the logging industry to gain a foothold in the area. What I have done in Peru is to get the government and the people together as a force to protect the area. Unfortunately there has been no publicity about this project.”

His original email was to tell me about improvements in the lodge and a new educational laboratory center. He wrote:

“We continue to actively work with the nearby villages and the government of Peru to ensure the growth of the Yarapa River Reserve. Recently, we purchased the deeds to the land of the individual villages from the Peruvian government and gave it back to the villages for them to manage. In return, the village chiefs have pledged to work with us to discourage commercial fishing, logging, and poaching. In addition, the villages have recommitted their enthusiasm to work with INRENA (Peruvian parks department) to create and maintain a national park status reserve.

We continue to look for ways to improve our lodge. We plan to add another solar panel system. We already are running about 90% solar and would like to make this as close to 100% as possible. We are opening the Cornell University Esbaran laboratory to any university, college, or advanced high school that would like to come down for a research project or field trip. Our laboratory director, Dr. Eloy Rodriguez, is now marketing the field lab as a wonderful facility in a world-class environment. We pride ourselves on having the best guides in the area and continue to treat and respect our workers as we do our guests.”

Conservation and Ecotourism go hand in hand and kudos to Charles Mango for what he is doing in Peru. Please spread the word!