At the end of 2024, we purchased 40 hectares of primary rainforest in Peru to protect it forever. This beautiful part of the world, where the endangered “fantastic tree climber”, a thumbnail-sized poison dart frog, is found, is located between the foothills of the Andes and the lowland rainforest of the Amazon, near the Peruvian city of Yurimaguas. The town of around 65,000 inhabitants is located directly on the Rio Huallaga, a tributary of the Amazon.
In March 2024, we undertook an exploration with an international team of 6 scientists (Germany, Peru, USA) to take stock of the animal species living there. Using various methods, a large number of species were identified.
In addition to countless insect species, photo traps on the ground and in the treetops recorded a large number of mammals (e.g. monkeys), as well as birds (several toucan species) and, above all, amphibians and reptiles. The researchers discovered two frog species that could not previously be assigned to any existing species. Peruvian experts will tell us in the next few weeks whether these are possibly new discoveries. Anyone interested in the complete species list of this first small exploration will have to be patient, however, as the evaluations will take a few more weeks.
We are currently planning to expand our conservation area. We inspected 13 hectares of adjoining land and made contact with the owners. This area is home to both an intact rainforest and an intact, environmentally friendly cocoa plantation, which could be maintained and operated in the future in order to run a ranger station from the proceeds and ensure the long-term protection of this area.
