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Southern Amazon
© Carlos Egocheaga / WWF-Perú

The Southern Peruvian Amazon has 13 million hectares of rainforest covering the Madre de Dios region, the province of La Convención in Cusco, the province of Satipo in Junin, and the province of Purús in Ucayali. This forest conserves 6.7 billion tons of carbon reserves across its expanse. Additionally, it is home to the biodiversity capital, Madre de Dios, with a remarkable forest cover of over 90% of its total area. It is globally recognized for its exceptional biodiversity (PNCBMCC, 2022). Also, it is known that a single tree can harbor more species of ants than all of the British Isles. It has the largest forest area in Peru under FSC-certified forest management, which indicates that the area preserves biological diversity and benefits the lives of local populations and workers while ensuring that it supports economic viability.

© WWF-US/Yawar Films
Threats:

This landscape faces serious threats to maintaining its biodiversity, the forest-based economy, and the well-being of local communities. These threats include illegal timber, illegal gold mining which has completely degraded the ecosystem and put people's health at risk due to the enormous contamination of soil and water, agricultural expansion and traditional livestock farming, unsustainable hunting and fishing, and the increase of illicit crops. The threats drive the growing deforestation, loss of landscape connectivity, and biodiversity.
© WWF-US/Yawar Films
What do we do in the Southern Amazon?

WWF Peru's conservation work in the Southern Amazon Landscape began in 2002. Our approach prioritizes participatory processes, gender equality, intercultural dialogue, and intergenerational collaboration. We ensure that current and future interventions in the landscape integrate the well-being of people and nature:

  • We strengthen and recognize inclusive conservation efforts with landscape stakeholders.

  • We collaborate to ensure the protection of Peru’s Natural Legacy.

  • We monitor biodiversity with community participation to ensure the persistence of wildlife in the landscape.

  • We promote capacity building of community and indigenous organizations.

  • We strengthen indigenous and local initiatives.

  • We drive innovative processes towards regenerative cattle ranching.

  • We promote and train on improved practices for timber and non-timber forest utilization.

  • We strengthen public and private dialogue spaces to improve landscape management and governance.
© WWF-US / Marlon del Aguila
success stories
Farmers teaching farmers:

Fernando and Luciano's compromise changed cattle ranching practices in Peru. They created a lasting impact on the way ranchers think about and practice their work. Their efforts to educate and share their knowledge demonstrate that change is possible. They ensure the well-being of the next generation is within reach

Community monitoring to strengthen the connectivity and health of their forests:

WWF monitors the jaguar and its prey in the Tahuamanu-Tambopata biological corridor, using non-invasive technology such as camera traps, acoustic recorders, and canopy bridges. This action is supported by indigenous peoples and local communities in Madre de Dios.

Indigenous self-sustainable entrepreneurship in Madre de Dios:

The AFIMAD indigenous enterprise is an example of how the ancestral economic activities of indigenous peoples are part of their economy. It also strengthens their sovereignty, improves their food security, and revalues ​​their resources. In the last 15 years, 29K hectares of forest have been used sustainably. These have contributed to the protection of biodiversity in the Bahuaja Sonene National Park, the Tambopata National Reserve, and the area of ​​influence of the Madre de Dios Territorial Reserve.