Only 984 hours to remember the rest of my life, by Madison Wise (FFT Volunteer)

The Amazon region of Madre de Dios is home to a little over a hundred different species of amphibians, so for me, coming here and being a part of this program has been a life-long dream finally birthed into fruition. If there was a way of putting into words the ecstaticm I feel every day, having a chance to participate in the workings, co-habitat in the same environments, and actually witness the presence of some of the most captivating animals is a jaw dropping, awe-inspiring experience that I am hoping to remember every moment of.

My education has been primarily focused on herpetofauna with a Bachelors of Science in Biology and Chemistry, and having a strong interest in amphibians since I was seven years old motivated me strongly to come to this region with one of the highest biodiversity of amphibians and reptiles.  The FFT program gives people access to these areas and gives everyone a chance to manifest a similar love and appreciation for the fauna with or without similar interests and drives.

My interests being so strong were well met with the friendly froggy faces I so dearly adore. Even in the dry season I have been witness to some of the species I dared to dream meeting in the wild, among them, the Yellow-footed tortoise (Chelonoidis denticulate), Coral Pipesnake (Anilius scytale scytale) (shown above), Crested forest toad (Bufo margaritifer complex), Pale striped poison frog (Epipedobates hahneli), Three-stripped poison frog (Epipedobates trivittatus), Short nosed treefrog (Hyla brevifrons), Convict tree frog (Hyla calcarata), my personal favourite the Clown tree frog (Hyla leucophyllata), and a Barred monkey frog (Phyllomedusa tomopterna) (shown below), also worth mentioning, I stumbled across a never before seen red phased Atractus flammigerus and laid witness to a Common Mussurana (Clelia clelia clelia) eating an Amazon blunt headed tree snake (Imantodes lentiferus) only feet away from an on-looking Amazon egg-eating snake (Drepanoids anomalus)!

The people of Fauna Forever are equally captivating with their cooperative leadership, accommodating guidance and enthusiastic companionship. There are still 14 more days left in the phase, and I look forward to every minute that I can share this environment with these beloved creatures and will be returning with a new found enthusiasm, direction and motivation to continue making efforts of conservation and preservation because as it is possible to see firsthand, one person really can make a difference.

Amazon Fun, by Laura Wells (FFT Intern)

Hi all!

I’m the new intern here at Fauna Forever Tambopata. My Name’s Laura Wells and I’m a 3^rd year Environmental Science student from England, doing a year in industry as part of my course.

On Friday night I left Cusco, where I’ve been learning Spanish for 2 weeks, and took an overnight bus through the mountains. It was such a long journey and so frustrating that it was dark – I could see that there would be amazing views if it had been light. The stars, however, were stunning – they were just so bright against a sky with absolutely no light pollution and I saw the southern cross. 🙂 I arrived in Puerto Maldonado on Saturday at about half six in the morning and I’ve got to say waking up to see the cloud forests in the mist while the sun was rising was a perfect start to my time here. Dave picked me up and took me to the house, which is a little basic but it’s pretty cool. Here are a few observations, not complaints, about how the house may be different from what you or I are used to. There’s no hot water and we only have water for a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the evening. The internet is possibly the slowest connection I have known and there are 5 of us that fight over it. There’s no glass in the windows so the noise from the street is pretty loud and it’s so damn dusty and hot. Of course, it’s a different way of life to back home, but I’m a little used to it from some travelling I’ve been doing recently – but but BUT everyone I have met from the team so far is really cool and it should be fun living with them all. There’s Dave – Marketing Manager, Kim – Project manager, George – who runs Fotoforever (Fauna forever Tambopata’s sister project.) Finally, there’s James who doesn’t really work for Fauna Forever but he’s a mean cook and he helps us all out. Puerto Maldonado is nice too, it’s small but seems like you can get almost anything you need if you look hard enough, and there’s some awesome food here too.

My first job is to get this blog up to date and keep it that way. So watch this space for blogs from me, the team and volunteers, as well as other interesting thought leaders, organisations and local parties that are all relevant to what Fauna Forever is about and what’s going on with us. My second job is to get a Facebook fan page up and running, so please join that, and as well as being able to keep up to date with us, the first 1000 members will be entered into a very exciting competition!

So, now you know a little bit about who I am and what I’ll be doing. All in all I’m really excited about my time here with Fauna Forever Tambopata. I’m also very excited to be off to the Jungle today! Kim and I are going to Explorer’s Inn to meet up with the volunteers, some of who are from the same university as me – UEA (The University of East Anglia). So it’ll be cool to meet and catch up with all the volunteers and bring them back to Puerto Maldonado. So that’s it for now but I’ll tell you all about my jungle experiences and what’s happening here when I get back  🙂

Peru 2010, by William Howell (Phase 10.4 volunteer)

The Amazon rainforest, a place shrouded in mystery and darkness.

My experience here is tale of many emotions, many strange encounters and many bitter struggles brought about by the conditions of living in such an unrelenting and unforgiving environment.

Since a young age I had learned about the Amazon, it had always seemed a fairytale-like place to me and caused much intrigue and desire to learn as much as I could about it. I had developed a vision of what it would be like in my mind and when I arrived I found it truly amazing to behold the majestic beauty of this immense forest.

The living conditions here are in stark contrast to anything I have experienced before, but are still impressive given the challenges presented in this remote location. The food is basic but for the most part sufficient and satisfying, this is often aided by the appetite worked by the labours of the day. Although there is the loss of many modern conveniences such as 24hour electricity and hot running water, these are small sacrifices to make when presented with the undeniable wonder and joy brought about by the diversity of the beautiful animals found in the forest.

Perhaps the hardest and most enduring part of my journey here was to consume rice with almost every meal, a feat I thought that I may never accomplish and would surely drive me to insanity.

As for the forest itself it is filled with many wondrous and truly agitating creatures, from beautiful frogs and snakes that captivate you with their vivid colours and transfixing eyes to relentless mosquitoes and scheming ants that seek out your belongings should you set them down for one second. None of this however compares with the shear diversity of plants and animals that can be found in this place and the tremendous noise that they together produce, it is both evocative and overwhelming to say the least.

The moment that I will remember most vividly from my time here is the night I saw the infamous bushmaster, a true leviathan, its bold black diamonds darker than the night’s sky, and its deep burning stare almost locking my mind with titanium chains. Words cannot describe the disturbing beauty this fatal creature possessed; it bore a feeling of shear malevolence I feel will remain with me for some time.

Of all the animals I have seen here, the one that holds the most awe and that I picture immediately when I think of the Amazon is the tree frog. For me it is the most striking animal to see, particularly at night when its colours are at their brightest. The finest example of this animal is the tomopterna or monkey tree frog, its name applies to the way in which it moves which is simply a joy to watch as it reveals its brilliant orange flanks broken by dark purple stripes.

 

For this remarkable experience I am truly indebted to FFT, a top group of researchers who have been a delight to volunteer for and who I have learned so much from over my time in Peru, so I would like to end by thanking them for making this a truly unique experience and certainly one I would like to repeat in the future.

Diary Excerpts, by Melissa Chang (22yo volunteer from Lima)

Day 1 – 07/06/10

So travelling started by being late to the airport. My dad said he’ll take me but as usual we ended up having a super long breakfast and left late, went through Lima’s gross streets which are all blocked by either cars or constructions that make you want to walk the distance but finally made it on time due to several infractions… which nobody saw luckily.

I feel like there is no better way than learning by experience, I’m thrilled to go back to Tambopata, especially for more time as last time was really short.  Also, I really want to go out of the city and do something related to what i see all the time in class because let’s just say there isn’t much ecofriendliness in Lima. Anyways the trip started, I got to the airport and both my Cuzco and Puerto Maldonado flights were delayed. I really didn’t mind because a) I got all three seats for myself the entire way and b) I love Cuzco, and seeing it from the window was so worth it. I hope I can manage to change my ticket on the way back, maybe if I meet someone to come with I will. Also they gave us some yummy snacks as an apology for the delay, so I got an alfajor Tinkay for sitting quietly 😛

While in the plane I started wondering about something really odd, so just bear with me. Have you noticed those odd plane videos for when the plane is Taxiing? The ones that have pictures of one thing accompanied by relaxing music, I always feel I’m watching flowers with elevator music. I wonder if there is a job that is based entirely on that, as in what did you do? Well I design the minivideos for when the plane isn’t moving.

So I finally got to Puerto Maldonado airport and my bags came out surprisingly fast, so I went out and this super smiley boy with a sign that said ‘Melissa Chang FFT’ was standing there, and that’s how I first met Dave. Then we rode to the FFT house in mototaxi and I met Chris who’s awesomely funny, Sofia from Puerto who directs the Mammals team, and Brian, the Herps team guy (a.k.a. the Terminator). So as soon as I got there they gave me food J and then they told me the other kids wouldn’t come until the following day… small confusion but i wrote and read my book and got a really good bed 😛

After lunch we walked around Puerto and I went shopping with Brian for buckets and fabric for pitfall traps. I got to haggle for buckets, felt very Peruvian.

Later that day I got to know more all of the guys and Naun from the Bird team came over, he’s also from Puerto so he doesn’t exactly live in the house but he’s pretty funny.  All the guys and Sofia are really funny, loads of British accents everywhere and so far all is well. The project seems like it’ll be fun so cool. Tomorrow the first bunch comes at 8:30, I think its Sofia who I was emailing for a little to get to know each other and Ashley, the insect team coordinator.

That’s all for tonight, plan to read a little and sleep 🙂

Day 2/Day 3 – 08/06/10

So I forgot to write yesterday (oops) but we have 3 hours in the boat so I can write what happened in the meantime. I woke up to welcome Sofia and Ashley but apparently their flight was changed so they lost it. So at 11:30 Sofia from Mexico and Will and Tom from England arrived. Sofia is really funny, she’s 18 and LOVES animals, especially dogs. I learnt she has a shelter, which is pretty cool for someone of any age. The two new guys I didn’t get to know that well because they seemed super tired, granted the route from England to Puerto Maldonado is not a short one. At 12:45 Max from the US got here and that now makes all 5 of us volunteers.

So Dave gave a small welcome speech and then we had lunch (tequenos). Then we got ice cream (brazil nut ice cream!), went to the bank and to the market for supplies (food and boxes) and finally home to chill before dinner and collapsing in bed. We all woke up at 6 a.m. for the 7 a.m. bus which didn’t get there until way after. But after calling home and saying bye to friends we left for Infierno (not hell, a town). I bought more brazil nuts, this time covered in chocolate and sugar 🙂 and set off into a two hour and a half journey where we saw turtles, a tayra on the banks (sort of a small nutriaish looking thing) and a white cayman. Then I got my passport stamped with a Jaguar to indicate I was in Tambopata and got to Explorer’s Inn.

We carried all of our stuff up (HOT) and got fed (woop). I got to know Will and Max better as well as Naun and Sofia (coordinators). After that we got a little tour of the lodge and then we saw 2 Tamarins grooming and 7 Howler monkets (including  a baby!), too cute. Then at 4 we had a meeting in La Catolica (which is a classroom) and after that went out Herping and found frogs! One of them Travittata (poisonus frog!)

Day  7 – 13/06/10

SO i missed a whole bunch of days, oops again. Well basically after getting to know each other better, training (classes, etc), loads of games (whichever we could think of), being introduced to settlers of Catan (so cool) and seeing tons of animals (Ocelot and bunny on camera trap – not together – and various birds) we got to work in what we’ll be doing for the rest of the phase. We learned a whole bunch of techniques such as how to spot certain animals (where to look), speeds to walk in mammal transects, how to make footprint traps, how to make pitfall traps, how to catch butterflies and identify them, etc.

And today was an awesome day.  We ate and applied everything we’d learnt in a scavengers hunt. First we were given a GPS mark that led us to catch some butterflies and identify them, then we were given another and went to Naun to identify a cassick, then we ran around like crazy following tons of GPS marks to find the ribbons for the next place, jumped on boats, swam in the river (me vs Sofia :P) and finally got to the end where we got treats 🙂 Then of course it was shower and washing time.

Then i sat with the boys to play Settlers and drink beer. It feels very old tabern-like with the rustic wooden tables and chairs, dice games, beers and candlelight… and Will and I won with 11 points! 🙂 Now Herp walk and sleep!

Also I thought about doing a project with beetles, I talked to Ashley but now I have to talk to Chris and Dave.

Day 8 – 14/06/10

Actually writing on the 15^th, but yesterday was both brutal and fun. We woke up for breakfast and made 4 transects, then we had lunch and made pitfall traps. After that we had a small walk where we saw a Travittata which was HUGE and according to our leader it could kill someone, if you lick it, though i´m not sure why we would lick a frog but anyways, we´ve been warned on which frogs not to lick. Then we had dinner and everyone crashed.

Day 9 – 15/06/10

Today I woke up to Howler monkeys, packed, had breakfast, packed some more, and napped a little in the boat on our way to Baltimore. Then we got there, swam near the waterfall, had a mud fight and chilled 🙂

Day 10 – 16/06/10

Dreams while in the jungle seem to be different than anywhere else. They really go to extremes, I had a dream about monsters (yes, monsters) and this weird magical land and then yesterday night I had a dream about settlers of Catan. Well we had breakfast and then proceeded to marking the 1500m control transect which involved getting lost twice (hehe) but we found a cool colpa.

We then went to the mirador to see guacamayos, there were so many! And then we crossed the river on a bridge made by a fallen tree. This was a huge tree to cross a huge river and Max made the funniest old man dwidle to cross. Then we came back, had lunch and napped. This place is so pretty, there are tons of mosquitoes but tons of hammocks too which kinda make up for it 😛

Then Victor (from El Gato), Tom, Naun and Me left to go fishing. I caught two at this little puddle 🙂 we used them as bait though, it is so sad to see them die. I had a thought though. While I was fishing it was SO similar to fishing in Wii play that it was kind of scary. Must tell Tali because she always beats me at that game.

So then we moved to this area that had that ‘very few people have been here’ feel to it. Basically it was opening trail to go through these tree arches and get to this little beach where we caught 5 fish and saw 2 tayras cross the river over a fallen log! One was whitish, Dave says that means it’s a juvenile. We then came back, chilled at the hammocks and had a few beers, dinner and then to bed.

Wow apparently Will almost stepped on a Fer de Lance… bad day to skip herping!

Day 11 – 17/06/10

So we spent the morning marking transects and setting up beetle traps for our new volunteer Marshorie. Then we had lunch and took pics of the frogs trapped. Then it started raining so we were chilling for a really long time until at 5 we left for herping. In the attacks list: Brian was stung on the lip by a wasp L it’s cruel to say so but he looks kind of funny. In the saw list: We also saw an anole (!) and a whipping scorpion. In the felts list: A frog jumped on my leg and a bat flew over my head, following a moth hehe talk about learning in action. Then we had dinner and off to bed! It’s really funny how our new setup for going to sleep/waking up is in a 9pm-6am format…  I wonder how this will work when we’re back in town??

Day 12 – 18/06/10

SO apparently Brian’s wasp sting kind of opened a door for accidents. We were going along as usual with our breakfast and then off to herps transects. BUT then Ashley got stung on the eye by a wasp when she was cutting a transect and then I feel into a hole and twisted my ankle, so I spent the rest of the day resting, sleeping, playing, finishing my book (Cronicas de San Gabriel = awesome though sad), talking to Sofi and getting a faux tattoo with natural colours. Then while we were having dinner Will and Brian came back from herping and apparently Will was sting by a bullet ant L So now pain killers and off to bed, I hope everyone is better tomorrow.

Day 13 – 19/06/10

So still hurting so I stayed in doing some butterfly identifying and a little bit of cooking (condensed milk and vanilla cracker balls with coconut!) Then the rest of the day was pretty chill overall, I was stretching my foot to see if it gets better for tomorrow because we can play volleyball! And I want to play 😦

Day 14 – 20/06/10: Funday Sunday

It’s 4:57 am and today the plan is go to the Collpa, Baltimore community and Wasai lodge.

So in the collpa we saw tons and tons of parrots and a Macaw. My ankle hurt so that kind of ruined it for me, but it was still intense to see how many birds congregated at such a small area turning all the brown into a mesh of green, yellow, red and blue. Then we came back, had breakfast and chilled until 11:30am when we went to Baltimore community to have juane for lunch 🙂 and watch a football (soccer) match, Baltimore vs La Torre. Again fun though mosquitoes actually harass you there. It was really funny though because they needed a referee and Will volunteered, in Spanish. Then we were off to Wasai lodge which is BEAUTIFUL and had some drinks and chat. Then we headed back to El Gato for showers, dinner and a couple rounds of cards and settlers of Catan 🙂 Then off to bed, tomorrow back to research!

Day 15 – 21/06/10

So yesterday Dave said I can only do half a day because of my foot, which means I only got to go herping in the morning and then basically spent the rest of the day being lazy, but i missed the cool herping at night where they found a land crab and a coral snake!!!

But well it was still good to rest because due to massive dream scratching I made big wounds on my feet and walking burned them (I know ew?!) Plus I keep on seeing the dynamic of this little group, its fun 🙂 Also in El Gato, ironically we found a little kitty pet which people call Margay, though his real name is Michifuso, he’s super cute though has an odd meow.

Today at dinner we discussed what animal we would be and I got spider monkey haha not sure how to feel about that?? Then we player settlers of Catan for 2^nd and 3^rd time today and i won the 1^st and 3^rd time! Anyways tomorrow we are odd to Puerto, i’m excited to call my mum and friends, and get some new pants because for some reason I keep on ripping mine!

Alright long trip tomorrow, and maybe some dancing woop! And from now on I am referring to Sofi as Pochi, because apparently people who talk in spanglish are called that way in Mexico!

Day 16 – 22/06/10

Today we woke up, packed, have breakfast (found out France is out of the World Cup so I lost the bet!), play settlers and chilled waiting for the boat. Some of the boys went swimming in the river one last time but one of them got some sort of allergic reaction and two hit rocks so slightly bad day for swimming but still that water is super refreshing.

Then we got to Infierno, attacked the store for soda and went to Puerto with AC in the bus (woop)! Then we got to the house and started doing a thousand things. Call mum, send things to laundry (finally, socks), go buy stuff that was missing (a.k.a. hair stuff and cards), get some pizza and prepare for dancing. We went to the plaza for internet and Sofia and I decided to go souvenir shopping and I got a bag and she got some cute pants 🙂 My clothes weren’t done with the rest of the batch so initially I thought I would be dancing in my gym shorts but Ashley lent me some clothes so yay! Also we got new necklaces FFT gave us 🙂 though I lost mine while dancing (pout).

Anyways, so we all got changed and when the pizza arrived we ate, chilled with a crate of beer and played some cards. Then we went to Plaza Bar for some drinks and then to Vikingo to dance. The entire night was awesome, teaching some to dance, others to drink, learning awesome semi disco steps and basically just chilling with everyone 🙂 After some World Cup talking (as always) home and bed!

Day 17 – 23/06/10

SO even though we went to sleep at like 2 (which is a record for everyone for the past 2 weeks given our 9pm to 6am schedule) Sofia and I woke up at 7:30am and decided to go shopping with Ashley for some more stuff that was missing. Then we had brunch at Gustitos where we met up with everyone, chilled and then had early lunch at Asadazo because we weren’t going to have food until dinner in Sachavacayoc.

We then went back into the jungle and up to Sachavacayoc (a.k.a. Sacha) which is SO pretty. We divided into girl/boy dorms and our room is for 17 people even when we are 5, so each of us has like 2 beds (bedding and lounging areas) and a shower each. We then had dinner and went to sleep 🙂

Day 18 – 24/06/10

So this is going to be short because i’m pretty tired. Today most of the morning afternoon was all about herp, walking, cutting down wood for pitfall traps and looking for a place so we can build it tomorrow. Then Ashley taught us this really cool card game we never actually finished haha. Then after dinner herps went out, saw a gecko and a HUGE frog and many many ants 😛 then back home and pass out.

Day 19 – 25/06/10

So today we had breakfast and then watched the first half of the Brazil – Portugal game which ended up being 0-0 and filled with yellow cards Then I helped cook a little (actually peeled potatoes so really little) and watched the rest of the game.

Then I met a guy from Lima who works in tourism who I actually thought was the new volunteer so it was awkward for the first few minutes. Ian, the actual volunteer came over during lunch and he came with us to set up pitfall traps 🙂

Then we had some dinner, some settlers and night transects and went off to bed.

Day 20 – 26/06/10

So today we were doing quadrats with Max as they require 4 people and one of the tangaranas came down from its tree and nibbled my finger. We did however find a snake and then  things got even better by the fact that I got awesome mashed potatoes for lunch 🙂 (mashed potatoes = <3) then we played settlers and Ian won which means he’s picking up his game… must destroy hehe

Then at night we took Sofia for quadrats and found two frogs and two anoles 🙂 we then walked around for a little longer and went to sleep.

Day 21 – 27/06/10

Today is my friend’s birthday, so given that I have no way of sending this: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Now to the actual day 😛 today we processed all the animals caught yesterday and the snake bit Brian several times but its non venomous so it was just obnoxious. Then we watched the England-Germany game (4-1 ouch) and at 1:30 saw the Argentina – Mexico games to see that the next match is Argentina – Germany, that should be interesting. I hope we had the list of the dates and stuff to keep up.

Workwise today was transects day and butterfly mounting day. I am practicing and finally got the butterflies straight! At night we went out for a walk and to check the pitfall traps and I saw a wipping snake! It was sleeping right on top of us now we are off to bed because tomorrow is camping day!

Day 22 – 28/06/10

So in the morning we went transecting and found a couple of lizards and then we checked the pitfall traps. There was nothing in but right next to the trap there was a HUGE whip snake that Brian chased and caught. Again it bit him but still it was awesome. Then John (a guy staying at Sacha who is doing fly taxonomy) brought a bushmasters skin so we were taking loads of pictures of both the snake (which was vicious) and the skin (which was super soft!)

Then we hiked to this BEAUTIFUL lake, set up our beds and went rowing at sunset, so we got to see the from the middle of the lake. While at the city you kind of forget there are so many of them.

Then we had Juane for dinner which the Sacha people made for us 🙂 and a little herp hike in which Max found a really cool frog, saw a bridge made out of ants for more ants and we saw a baby black caiman! Then back to the camp, played boggle and went to sleep 🙂

Day 23 – 29/06/10

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I left Lima, it’s been more than 3 weeks but I am totally used to the place. So we went camping yesterday so today we had a hike back. But before, we woke up and I went to the lake and Tom and Ian were preparing to go out on a boat so I decided to join them, but then Tom didn’t feel so well so Ian and I rowed to were the girls were on another boat and turns out they were chasing some monkeys! There were so many of them! And we chased them for quite a while and then Ian saw a baby monkey on its mum’s back and 6 ft away a rusty whip snake! Then we rowed a bit more to the other shore and came back to pack and hike back.

On our way Max, Ian and I played around the trees and saw some very colourful butterflies and then when we got back there was food 🙂 Then all of the girls kind of passed out, loads of moving today!

After waking up we watched Alice in Wonderland and then danced some salsa 🙂 and then we ate and played settlers. Later the girls talked for a bit 😛 and then everyone to bed!

Day 24 – 30/06/10

Today was a quadrats day. We woke up, had breakfast and went to Control area to do three quadrats with this guy from the Chicago Herp Society called Jason. Then we came back to devour everything on the table and chill for the afternoon to prepare for the night quadrat. I talked to Sofi for basically the entire afternoon, even when the plan was napping 😛

Then before dinner we played with this awesome little snake and later on the night did two quadrats and walked for a really long time because Jason kept on finding snakes! We ended up with 6 snakes and 2 lizards. Tomorrow there is going to be loads of processing 😛 but one of them was so small and cute!

Day 25 – 01/07/10

Today was a rather chill day. I had a good night rest but for some reason was in some odd mood, kind of remembering my uni friends and being weirdly nostalgic, so i was basically chilling because we didn’t have to go out until 4:30. In the morning after breakfast though we did process all of the snakes and lizards caught yesterday and when I was taking pictures my camera died! I guess it couldn’t take the excitement 😛 I did grasp a whole new concept on how cute snakes can be 😛 specially the little baby snake we couldn’t figure out and one whose eyes looked extremely pug-like.

Then after lunch I started feeling horrible to my stomach and told Brian who said I didn’t have to go, so I stayed chilling with Ashley and Sofi, processing butterflies (mounting and identifying), plan 🙂

Bat Netting at Explorer’s Inn June 3rd, 2010 (George Bareham)

After a week of mist netting birds and ringing them with the Birdringingforever crew, one of the ringers, François Villeneuve (M. Sc) decided we should try for some bats. François is a scientist and lecturer in Quebec so he knows his stuff. Most of the detail in this blog post is based on information provided by François so Fauna Forever sends its appreciation!

Artibeus jamaicensis (George Bareham)

He set up two mist nets (3 X 6 m) a few hundred metres down Sunset Point Trail, close to the lodge and opened them at 17h45. After only twenty minutes, eight bats were already caught. After carefully extracting them from the nets with gloves (look at the teeth), it turned out that they were all of the same species: The Jamaican Fruit-eating bat (Artibeus jamaicensis).

Interestingly, seven of them were lactating females which was easily seen because of the enlarged nipples and hair loss around them.  The only male was an adult.

It was amazing to see these creatures at such close quarters. These were pretty big bats as bats go. The most interesting thing for me was being able to examine their wings which felt like a cross between rubber and elastic and very, very soft. They can be handled without gloves after extraction but only with great care!

Caught in the net (George Bareham)

A. jamaicensis are common bats in the tropics. They are considered large fruit-eating bats (50-60 g). They fly low in the understory, use human made trails and are commonly caught in mist nets. They occur from Mexico to Central and South America in the Amazonian Brazil, Peru to northwestern Argentina mainly in humid tropical habitats but can be found in mature and secondary rainforest, deciduous forest, gardens and plantations.

They use caves, hollow trees, dense foliage, buildings and leaf tents as roost sites. They are fruit generalists but will eat figs if present in their habitat. The male will defend a harem of 4 to 14 females in their roost. Each female has two oestrus annually and produces a single young, rarely twins, each time.

Known predators are Barn Owl (Tyto alba), Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata), Mottled Owl (Ciccaba virgata), Bat Falcon (Falco rufigularis), boas and false vampire bats (Vampyrum spectrum).

Examining the wings (George Bareham)

With wings spread (George Bareham)

References:

Emmons, L. H. 1990. Neotropical rainforest mammals: a field guide. Un. Chicago Press. 281 pages.

Ortega J. and Castro-Arellano, I. 2001.  Artibeus jamaicensis. Mammalian Species, no. 662, 1–12.

The Inambari Dam Project: Nature vs. Power

By Chris Kirkby –  Principal Investigator, Fauna Forever

International media is once again turning its attention to the Amazon rainforests of south-eastern Peru, a spectacular wilderness area and biodiversity hotspot dominated by world famous national parks such as Manu and Bahuaja-Sonene where jaguars and giant otters still roam free and unaffected. What is drawing their interest? Yet another large-scale development project. First was the paving of the Interoceanica Highway, a westerly extension of the Trans Amazon Highway that crosses Brazil and which will facilitate cross-border trade. Now the Peruvian government plans to bring in a Brazilian consortium of companies (Ebasur) to build at a cost of US$4 Billion a 2,200-megawatt dam on the Inambari River, drowning 378 km2of life-rich tropical pre-montane forest located a stone’s throw from the Bahuaja-Sonene National Park (see map below). The benefits and impacts of this reservoir project are still being calculated, but most people in Peru already hold a strong opinion about it, one way or the other.

With regards to the benefits of the dam, the economic value is pretty easy to tot up as it would be dominated by the electricity produced, 80% of which would be exported to Brazil during the first decade to feed the growing industries in states such as Acre, Rondonia and Mato Grosso with the rest flowing into the Peruvian national grid to power the south of the country (details will be hammered out between the countries soon apparently). There are still no good published estimates of this benefit, at least not that we’ve been able to find, but it’s certain that someone will release it soon. There are also some additional benefits in terms of the tourism and recreational potential that a large reservoir would create, a reservoir that would be within 4-5 hours of Cusco (the tourist capital of Peru), within sight and easy access of snowcapped mountains (i.e. the Ausangate range) lined with azure-blue lakes and hotsprings at every turn, and one or two Cock-of-the-Rock (Rupicola peruviana) leks to boot. The building of dams also generates jobs of course, at least for the relatively short period it takes to build them, although in truth the value that one should consider is the premium in wages that workers would perceive above and beyond what they would normally be paid if they stayed in their existing jobs.

It is quite another matter putting monetary figures on the impacts, general upheaval and cost of headache pills that the building, flooding and subsequent operations will generate. And figures are what are needed as soon as possible, because local people, politicians and Peruvian society as a whole need to start taking decisions as money/value issues underpin strong arguments in this part of the world. Due to poor methodology in the past (or a simple lack of any method at all) the negative economic impacts of such mega-projects have largely been undervalued. Happily, some eager beavers have been developing tools to help calculate the costs of dams around the world (e.g. http://conservation-strategy.org/en/news/csf-launches-hydrocalculatortool).

Some of the more notable impacts include the forced movement of local people to higher ground and induced changes on farming practices. Ebasur and local district mayors estimate the number of people that will be directly and indirectly affected will be between 3,000-15,000. Some of these people welcome the prospect of being moved, others are not so inclined (and have already begun to protest in the streets), even though there is already talk about compensation, new schools and other government services. Not trivial are also the potential carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions that the reservoir could generate over time from the decomposition of soil, sunken trees and other vegetation, each molecule of which would add to the climate change problem (particularly the methane) and so carries local, national and international costs (i.e. the dam may affect you too!). New or additional deforestation in areas near the reservoir, as a consequence of moving people to higher ground and as people from other areas migrate into the area to squat and clear land, will exacerbate this emissions impact. The water, sediment deposition, and flood regimes downstream of the dam (i.e. in Madre de Dios, Peru; Pando, Bolivia) will be severely affected, especially during the process of dam filling, which may take 2-3 years, not to mention the physical barrier to migrating fish that a 220m high wall of reinforced concrete will mean. Fish, fishermen, floodplain farmers (who rely on new, fertile sediment deposits on their lands each year, delivered to them by the annual floods during the rainy season) and other waterway users will all be affected in one way or another. Ethically controversial but significant none-the-less is that the restriction of sediment-flow will also leave thousands of miners downriver with a considerable deficit of gold to extract from riverbeds.

We hear a cost-benefit analysis, with values for all the above (and more hopefully) is still in the making, but will be published soon. As and when we get our hands on it, we will surely share some of its content here on the FFT blog.
So, Chris, which side of the fence do you stand at present? Good question Sir, where do I stand? Well, (i) if local people in the affected area can be moved to new housing in an orderly and planned fashion and sufficiently recompensed financially (for the headaches caused by moving house) and with good quality, organised housing and improved health and educational services; (ii) if sufficient research is undertaken well in advance to survey and translocate threatened wildlife species, and to estimate what the minimum discharges down-stream should be, during reservoir filling, in order to reduce impacts on say migratory fish and other aquatic animals in the Inambari river in Madre de Dios ; (iii) if the timber on hillsides and valleys that will lie below the future waterline can be extracted in as environmentally friendly a manner as possible (to reduce future CO2 and CH4 emissions from decomposition); (iv) if the Ministry of the Environment (that means you Antonio B.) can negotiate with (or force) both the companies that build the dam and those that will eventually operate it to regularly pay into an Inambari Forest Conservation and Development Fund (just made that name up on the spot) and simultaneously establish both the Ausangate-Inambari National Park and the Inambari Communal Reserve Network (just made those names up as well) to be situated upriver of the dam (which would together act to conserve the water quality and species rich parts of the catchment, would form a protected forest corridor between the Bahuaja Sonene National Park and the Amarakaeri Comunal Reserve [and hence to the Manu National Park], and would allow managed access by local people to certain natural resources); (v) if gold mining and coca growing activities further upriver on the Inambari River can be thoroughly regulated and brought under control (to reduce and one day eliminate the water pollution and deforestation that these activities generate); (vi) if a network of well manned park guard stations can be built on potential access routes leading from the roads, dam, rivers to the border of the Bahuaja Sonene National Park and the new protected areas to be established (to reduce illegal incursions into these areas); (vii) if only native species of fish are eventually allowed to be introduced into the resulting reservoir for fish farming or sport fishing (i.e. a BIG no-no to tilapia and carp); (viii) and if only quiet sailing boats (no speedboats and jet skis please) with yellow, green, or pink sails is the only type of pleasure craft allowed on the reservoir (maybe the colour code would be asking too much?); then I might at least toss a coin with a 50% chance of saying yes.

Good morning and welcome to The Amazon

Welcome to a new platform for discussing the Amazon rainforest.  In particular, we will be talking much about the region in Peru called Tambopata. Why Tambopata? Because this is arguably the most biologically diverse area on our planet and a good example of the ‘ups and downs’ of a typical Amazon rainforest region.

We are a registered charity in Peru; a group of dedicated scientists, artists, communication specialists, anthropologists, researchers, volunteers, writers, photographers, teachers and businessmen from many different continents, working with many organisations, working with local people, with one common goal.

Together, we want to learn about this invaluable resource and pass on the information we gather to the rest of the World in a way which is easy and interesting enough to digest happily over a morning coffee. The more minds we can put together on this platform, the more chance we will have to bring change. Together, let’s discover new ways of protecting and replanting the Amazon.

We believe that if you are reading this you will likely know the importance of the rainforest. But perhaps, you won’t feel the importance until it’s too late… or will you?

Welcome to Fauna Forever.