Biodiversity, Environment, Headlines, Human Rights, Indigenous Rights, Latin America & the Caribbean

PERU: Native Birds Under Threat from Illegal Logging

Milagros Salazar

RIOJA, Peru, May 13 2011 (IPS) - Unique species of native birds live in the transition zone in Peru between the Andes mountains and the Amazon rainforest, where illegal deforestation is destroying their habitat.

One of the threatened habitats is in the northeastern department of San Martín, home to the world’s smallest owl.

The long-whiskered owlet (Xenoglaux loweryi) is one of 200 bird species unique to Peru. It is nocturnal in habit, brownish in colour and only 40 people have ever spotted one in the cloud forests of the Abra Patricia Private Conservation Area, along the border between the northern departments of San Martín and Amazonas.

The reserve is part of the buffer zone surrounding the Alto Mayo Protected Forest, a natural conservation area which is the main source of water for 250,000 people and is located in Rioja, a province in the department of San Martín.

Prior to June 2009, only two visitors to the Abra Patricia reserve had sighted the long-whiskered owlet, and many tourists who were keen bird watchers were disappointed in their hopes of a glimpse of one.

“Some people wondered ‘Does the owlet really exist?'” José Altamarino, manager of the park wardens in Abra Patricia, told IPS.


After Colombia, Peru has the greatest biodiversity of birds in the world, with more than 1,800 species living in different habitats – under the forest canopies, among the trees or on the high slopes.

More than 400 bird species share the large Abra Patricia reserve, located between 1,800 and 2,500 metres above sea level, including six endemic species found only in this region, like the long-whiskered owlet.

Sadly, this habitat and its fauna are endangered by illegal activities such as logging.

Altamirano said that 300 hectares of Abra Patricia had been destroyed, an area that has gradually been recovered by natural means since the Andean Ecosystem Association (ECOAN) took over its management in 2005.

“There are problems arising from timber extraction in nearby villages (like Oso Perdido and El Progreso) and it is often difficult to protect the whole reserve,” said the manager, who carries out his work with the support of four park wardens.

Threats come from all sides. Nearby municipalities, like Naranjo, dump their garbage in the Alto Nieva river basin, the water source for people who live in the adjacent departments of San Martín and Amazonas, including the indigenous Awajún people.

“On patrols with the park wardens, we have found papers among the rubbish that implicate the (Naranjo) municipality, including a summons from the mayor to women heads of household,” Altamirano said. “We have formally reported the authorities responsible to the prosecutor’s office, because this is an environmental crime.”

As a result of the charges brought, the Naranjo authorities now have no option but to organise garbage collection themselves.

Logging and damages to biodiversity do not only happen in Abra Patricia, but throughout the Alto Mayo Protected Forest, which extends over 182,000 hectares, of which some 10,000 hectares have been destroyed, according to one of the forest wardens, Ramiro Galo.

The forest has been devastated by tree felling to make room for coffee trees and pasture for raising cattle, illegal occupation by settlers from outside, illegal land sales and destruction of wildlife, as well as logging and illegal timber sales.

“It’s dangerous to fight the illegal loggers: they could kill you,” Galo told IPS, adding that it is always the lowliest workers who pay the penalty for illegal activities perpetrated by their bosses. “They never catch the lumber owners,” he said.

For over a year, forest wardens have had the authority to destroy lumber if those transporting it have no documents to prove its provenance. Previously, seized timber was kept by the forestry service administration, which would auction it off – very often selling it back to the original loggers.

The logging of trees like the fig poses a serious threat to the yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Oreonax flavicauda), which feeds on the tree’s fruit.

The 18 forest wardens at the Alto Mayo Protected Forest patrol its 182,000 hectares on foot. They are not equipped with motorcycles, even though some areas can only be reached after 18 hours’ walking, Galo said.

The head of the forest reserve, Marina Gaslac, said however that operational difficulties are not allowed to stand in the way of their duties.

The reserve has made 37 accusations of environmental damage against various suspects, including local authorities, between 2007 and March 2010.

“Some deputy governors and mayors tolerate the offenders; they do not take part in the fight against illegal logging, and sometimes they build roads in protected natural areas that end up being used by loggers to extract the timber,” Gaslac said.

“None of the municipalities are willing to work in harmony with nature,” she said, so coordination is being established between mayors and the police. Two of the 37 lawsuits, connected with the building of a bridge in the heart of the Alto Mayo forest, and a dirt road, respectively, have been settled by the justice system.

The Attorney-General’s Office ordered the cancellation of both projects. Gaslac indicated that a remaining challenge is regaining public respect for those who are in charge of protecting the forest.

“When I started to work in this post, the locals used to send me away from their meetings, saying why didn’t I go and look after my hens or wash clothes,” said Gaslac, who faces the additional challenge of being a woman involved in enforcing order.

Gaslac sought allies to support her work, among them Conservation International, an NGO which is collaborating in projects to conserve biodiversity in this area of San Martín. “There is a huge amount of work to be done, but we are not faint-hearted,” she said.

 
Republish | | Print |

Related Tags



sabita bhabhi