In the forests of Chontabamba district, Oxapampa province, Peru, is El Palmeral, a voluntary conservation project that has the mission of protecting ten hectares of a beautiful cloud forest.

 

Our purpose is to ensure that this forest continues to provide important ecosystem services, in particular natural water production. Likewise, we seek to preserve its great biodiversity, especially species that are in a vulnerable state and some species endemic to Peru. An important task that we have proposed to achieve our objectives is to restore areas that were degraded in the past, so that they are full of life again, which makes us a natural refuge for flora and fauna. 

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Among the protected fauna are the Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatus), the Gray Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix cana), the Machetero or Pacarana (Dinomys branickii) and a wide variety of birds, including six species endemic to Peru.

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Among the flora that we protect is the species of palm tree Dictyocaryum lamarckianum, known in the area as the basaco palm, which gives its name to the project and which provides food for a large number of animals, such as various families of monkeys, squirrels, a variety of birds and many bees. There are also many tree ferns, whose existence dates back hundreds of millions of years and predates the dinosaurs. Likewise, we take care of countless wild orchids threatened by illegal extraction and sale. 

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