On May 30, our CEO, Paul Salaman, flew to Iquitos, Peru, for a week-long site visit of recent Rainforest Trust projects in the Amazon Basin. Once complete, these projects, done in coordination with our Peruvian partner CEDIA (Center for Indigenous People of the Amazon), will protect 616,263 acres of imperiled rainforests.

Traveling in the company of Brett Byers, an instrumental Rainforest Trust supporter, and Lelis Chavéz, CEO of CEDIA, Salaman began the trip from Iquitos with a low-level flight to the remote village of Angamos, located on the Brazilian border. From Angamos, the three travelled seven hours up the Galvéz River by boat into the heart of the Matsés National Reserve.

The 1,039,390-acre reserve, created in 2009 with support from the Matsés indigenous people, protects an astonishingly intact portion of the Amazon, complete with healthy jaguar and tapir populations. Previous Rainforest Trust projects provided the Matsés reserve with funding necessary to develop a management plan, construct strategic monitoring posts, and expand its boundaries by 150,000 acres.

While at the reserve, the conservation team spent several days visiting local communities to question Matsés community leaders about on-the-ground conditions and conservation plans. Local leaders hosted Salaman and thanked him for the support of Rainforest Trust, which all agree has been a tremendous success.

In addition, the team spent two nights at the newly finished Tambo Matsés Ecolodge, a community-led and managed project, which will open to the public later this year. Staying at the solar-powered lodge, along the upper Galvez River, gave the team a chance to explore some of the more isolated portions of the reserve. Rare bird, mammal, and plant species were found in abundance, including a jaguar spotted swimming across the river by the lodge.

Upon return to Angamos, the team boarded another plane to survey the reserve by air and locate areas of potential deforestation. Besides having an opportunity to appreciate the vast expanse of unbroken forests found in the Matsés National Reserve, they also got a look at nearby varrillale areas. Found atop sandy soils, these stunted forests and wetlands remain to be protected despite their fragility and high biodiversity levels.

“We had a rare chance to see the vastness of the Amazon from the air, flying over rainforest we helped protect and a vast unprotected wilderness of four million acres in desperate need of saving”, noted Salaman. “Fortunately, no deforestation or colonization was seen in or around the reserve, but roads and colonization are certainly a possibility and could one day threaten the area.”

Next, from the bustling city of Iquitos, the group traveled by car to the smaller port city of Nauta and there boarded one of CEDIA’s boats for a trip up the Rio Tigre to visit rural communities that have benefitted from Rainforest Trust’ latest fundraising project.

Unannounced to these indigenous communities, large portions of their communal lands were expropriated and titled by the Peruvian Government as Forests of Permanent Production in 2003. This process deprived local people of traditional ownership rights and allowed for private twenty-year logging concessions in their place.

With Rainforest Trust support, CEDIA took the unprecedented action of petitioning the Peruvian Government to overturn these decisions and, in a landmark ruling, the Peruvian government agreed by annulling extractive claims to these areas. With this step complete, communities along both the Tigre and Putumayo Rivers – which suffered from the same predicament – were able to legally petition the government for land titles.

The titling process for these communities is now in the final stages with titles scheduled to be presented in July and August. Once complete, 616,263 acres – much of which was earmarked for logging – will be saved from destruction and guarded by indigenous communities in a natural state.

“CEDIA is a truly outstanding conservation group and has a uniquely strong partnership with indigenous communities and government institutions. This ensures local support and government approval for rapidly establishing protected areas and indigenous reserves across the Amazon of Peru,” Salaman said.

To see more photos of Salaman’s trip visit our Flickr site.