Manú National Park
The Manu National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional del Manu ) is a national park in the Amazon region in southeastern Peru in the region of Madre de Dios and small parts in the region of Cusco. It is located east of Cusco on the eastern slopes of the Andes. The park was founded in 1973 and is the third national park in the country and one of the oldest protected areas of this rank in the tropical rain forest and it covers an area of 18,812 km ². Its purpose is to preserve the typical animal and plant life as well as the preservation of the life of the original inhabitants of the indigenous Indians in this part of the Amazon forest. Even with the establishment of the UNESCO declared the park a Biosphere Reserve in 1987 and a World Heritage Site.
Characteristics
Access to the park is very limited. The core zone, which accounts for 81.5 percent, may not be entered. Exception of small Indian tribes who want no contact with the outside world. Further 13.5 percent may be entered only with special permit for research and limited tourism and serve as a buffer to the core zone. The remaining 5 percent are of human settlement, the area is usually reserved for the Indians. Through these measures, the original animal and plant life could be largely preserved.
Between the eastern foothills of the Andes and the lowlands of the Amazon is a height difference of 4000 m and thus gives the National Park three different ecological zones: rainforest, mountain rainforest and mountains. The diversity of flora and fauna is also the aim of research of the biological station Cocha Cashu that has the largest database on tropical ecosystems in South America. It is operated station of the University of La Molina in collaboration with the Zoological Institute in Frankfurt am Main. The researchers estimate that about 10 percent of all plants that are found here, the science is still completely unknown. In the rainforest, there are giant trees over 60 m in height and 3 m in diameter from which vines and other plants tendrils hanging down and prevent light from reaching the floor of the rainforest. In the montane rain forest there are trees with twisted trunks, stronger vegetation and a much higher biodiversity. Here there are lichens, mosses, ferns, and a huge selection of orchids. In the high mountains, a sparsely populated forest landscape occurs with the typical for the Andean dwarf sedge. In the three ecological regions, 550 species of birds, 200 mammals and over 100 species of bats, which were previously unknown to be registered. Endangered animals such as the black caiman or the giant otters are still to be found in sufficient numbers.
Mammals
Due to its size and the different vegetation zones of the park numerous animal species, including 200 mammals provides a home. The Jaguar and the slightly smaller Puma are the top predators of the area where the cougar to heights rises from the lowlands of over 3,000 m and the Jaguar usually below 1000 m remains. The higher altitudes above 1,700 m are also home to the spectacled bear. Smaller predators are represented in the lowland forests by ocelots, Tayras, short-eared foxes, coatis, winding bears and giant otters, in the highlands of the Andes by jackals. The largest animals of the area are the tapirs dar. Other ungulates of the protected area are peccaries, Weißbartpekaris, brocket deer and white-tailed deer. Also, the marsh deer has already been proven. Among the toothed arms of the giant anteater, the Aardvark, the Zwergameisenbär, the giant armadillo, the Nine-banded Armadillo and two sloth species are mentioned. Among the most striking rodents include the capybara, the Pacarana and Paka. A total of 14 different species of monkeys and numerous small mammals enrich the fauna also. In the Manu Biosphere Reserve, which includes the park, the following species of monkeys have been demonstrated in detail: The Jumps Amarin, the tiny pygmy marmoset, the White-fronted Capuchin ( subspecies cuscinus ), the Gehaubte Capuchin ( subspecies peruanus ), the Braunrückentamarin, the Emperor Tamarin, the Bolivian squirrel monkey, the Black-headed Nachtaffe, the brown titi, the Kahlgesichtige Saki, the Bolivian howler monkey, the black spider monkey face and the gray woolly monkey. At the northern border of the National Park recently also the Schnurrbarttamarin was detected.
Avifauna
The Manu National Park has because of its very different habitats on a very large avifauna. Among the species represented here include Edeltangare, toucans, poison dart, hummingbirds, quetzals and Lory. Some species have their main distribution point in the national park. These include the black head jewelry bird and the Rotstirn Ants throttle. One of the particular species found in the National Park, also include the hoatzin, the Orinokogans, the Andean Cock Of The Rock and the harpy. On the train times here also find a number of bird species whose breeding grounds are situated in North America. These include in particular a lot of warblers. Also North American shorebirds use the riverbank to rest. Among the special spectacles include the large flocks of various macaws who visit certain cliffs and a river in the lowland rain forest.
Ethnicities
In the national park small Indian tribes live in their natural environment. Some of them are known by their names, like the Machiguengas, the Yora, the Yaminahuas that Mashco - Piros and Amahuacas. Only the Machiguengas and Yora have contact with the outside world and the park authorities. They live in tropical, thatched-roofed huts and operate as a hunter-gatherer and farming small acreage. In the midst of the national park they contribute to the balance of nature. As already hundreds of years ago their form of society is controlled by kinship rules and ancestral faith. Technically they make dresses made of cotton and pottery ceramic utensils and jewelry. On the small areas around the villages they cultivate yuca, corn, papaya, pineapple and bananas. For hunting they use arrows, spears and stone axes. The influence of modern society can not quite keep away and therefore some Indians try their tribe slowly to the change prepare.
Paititi, the lost city of the Incas, is to be located in the National Park. Many expeditions, most recently in 2002 found until now only traces of the Inca and numerous petroglyphs. Due to the enormous deposits of rubber it came in the last century to a boom in the course of which became the town of Puerto Maldonado. After the slowdown of the boom, many workers earned their livelihood from the sale of skins of the jaguar, the ocelot and snake and crocodile skins. Today the city is the starting point of the tours in the rainforest.
Threats
An important buffer zone of the national park, the Nahua Nanti reserve is threatened by Peru's largest natural gas project " Camisea ". By blasting and other oil and gas work there are already restrictions for animal and plant life. Also indigenous peoples are threatened. A planned expansion of the Camisea could generate further restrictions for the National Park. Add to this that the Peruvian government reportedly also attracts oil and gas development in the National Park itself into consideration, even if the plans are so far kept under wraps. Peruvian organizations of indigenous peoples and the human rights organization Survival International are committed to these projects and for the protection of the sites.