The Ampiyacu Apayacu Regional Conservation Area is part of the Putumayo-Amazonas landscape. In addition to being a source of water for the 18 native communities around the Ampiyacu and Apayacu river basin, it is also a source of water for the hundreds of species of flora and fauna that are part of the ecosystem, some of which are threatened, such as the sacha vaca, the choro monkey, among others. With the new update of its master plan, the components of interculturalism and the dissemination of indigenous knowledge have become more important. In this way, Conservation International joins IBC, Sernanp, GORE Loreto and the indigenous federations in favor of this natural protected area.
Diversity. That is the word that best describes the Ampiyacu Apayacu Regional Conservation Area. The area is ethnically diverse because it is home to four indigenous ethnic groups in 18 communities: the Yagua, Bora, Huitoto and Ocaina peoples. In addition, the fact that this protected area is located between the Ampiyacu and Apayacu river basins (Loreto region), gives it an almost incomparable biodiversity status. Because it is in the Putumayo-Amazon landscape, in 1999 it was categorized as one of the priority zones for biodiversity conservation in Peru due to its exceptional condition.
The protected area is located between the districts of Las Amazonas, Mazan and Putumayo (Maynas province), and in the district of Pebas (Mariscal Ramón Castilla province), in the Loreto region, with a total area of 434,129.54 hectares.
The importance of this regional conservation area lies in the fact that it is a source of water and guarantees access to the natural resources necessary for the survival of the 18 native communities and hamlets in the Ampiyacu Apayacu RCA's area of influence and buffer zone. More than 2,400 people directly benefit from the conservation area in question.
Master Plan: A shared intercultural vision
The Ampiyacu Apayacu RCA shelters 1,500 species of plants and flora, while its fauna is not far behind. Its ecosystem is home to 207 species of fish, 64 species of amphibians, 40 species of reptiles, 362 species of birds and 60 species of mammals. And if that were not enough, this area is also part of the solution to combat climate change. It retains an average stored carbon value of 122.15 Mg C ha-1, which makes it "a great source of above-ground carbon compared to other national and regional category protected natural areas," according to the public document of its master plan.
But what is a master plan and why is it so important for RCA conservation? "It is a legal and formal document that orders us to know how to take advantage of the natural resources of our territory, what we have, what we produce," says Robert Velásquez Lligio, a Bora community member and member of the Ampiyacu Apayacu RCA management committee, in an interview.
In November of last year, different representatives of the RCA communities, as well as government authorities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including Conservation International and the Instituto del Bien Común (IBC), met in the community of Pucaurquillo to update the master plan for the third time. This time for the period 2023 - 2027. However, this time there was one vital factor that was considered to be added: interculturality and the transmission of knowledge to the new generations.
According to Humberto Rojas Ramírez, from the Yaguas de Pucaurquillo ethnic group and president of the Association of Hunters of the Ampiyacu River, "the importance of the master plan is that through it we conserve our animal, timber and fish resources. Because before, when there was no master plan, we were predators of our own resources," he says.
Due to the indiscriminate exploitation of the resources, the ancestral knowledge was not transmitted to the new generations. Angélica Peña Vásquez, President of the "Los Picaflores" Handicrafts Association of the Bora community "Colonia", explains how to revalue interculturality in the master plan of the ACR Ampiyacu Apayacu.
"Interculturality means revaluing the Bora culture and other indigenous cultures through reforestation and medicinal plants. I know the different species of medicinal plants. Which plant is good for what. About the master plan, do you know how they can revalue? By teaching the children what fruits our grandmothers used to plant; like sachapapa, huitila, sweet cassava; also how to cook cassava broth with fish. With all these recipes we have grown up healthy", explains Angélica Peña.
In the new update of the master plan they are also considering more training for the different productive associations such as craftswomen, hunters, fishermen; in addition to integrating school children and young people as an important part of the plan so that the indigenous knowledge that has kept the RCA alive until now survives.