The Amazon jungle comprises a full one-tenth of the world's total forest area. It is home to over 40,000 species of plants, 400 species of mammals, and 3,000 species of fish. Its natural resources are essential for the survival of many of the indigenous and riverine communities that inhabit the forest. The Amazon River also plays a critical role in planetary climate regulation. Unfortunately, due to logging and various other human enterprises, the Amazon has already lost approximately 17% of its original coverage.
In the Department of Loreto, in the Peruvian Amazon, NCI is working with the Regional Government of Loreto and the Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana (IIAP), in an ambitious project to establish a Regional Conservation and Protected Areas System over its vast 90 million acres of Amazon forests. This project could potentially create 25 million acres of protected areas at the state level, coupled with sustainable development initiatives to improve local community livelihoods.
In another community-based effort, NCI supports the Peruvian group Center for Development of the Amazonian Indigenous Peoples (CEDIA) in its programs to assist the Matses indigenous peoples sustainably manage their own communal land and to obtain designation of one million acres as the Matses Communal Reserve, which would protect the surrounding watershed of pristine Amazon rain forests.
NCI also works through the Jim Clements Conservation Fund to manage the Sanctuario Nacional Allpahuayo – Mishana, home to an exceptional number of endemic species, including several bird species found only in this forest.
