Abiseo River National Park

The Río Abiseo National Park is a protected area of Peru located between the departments of San Martín and La Libertad, covering 274,520 ha.

The area is made up of ecosystems, among them the cloud forests of the ceja de selva, with great biological diversity, some endemic and endangered. It also protects the river basin that gives it its name, ensuring water stability, and archaeological sites including Gran Pajatén and Los Pinchudos.

Established on August 11, 1983 as a national park, it was recognized as Cultural and Natural Heritage of Humanity and core zone of the Gran Pajatén Biosphere Reserve.

Objectives

It was established with the objective of conserving their natural environments and the species they contain. The Abiseo River is home to what are perhaps the best preserved mountain forests in Peru. In its steep mountain ranges and abrupt gorges, the vegetation reaches almost unreal levels of exuberance. The reason for such a profusion of life stems from the abundant humidity that supports the place: almost five cubic meters of rain per year.

Protection

The protection and establishment of the Río Abiseo National Park was ordered by the Peruvian government on August 11, 1983, through Supreme Decree No. 064-83-AG. In 1990 it was declared Cultural and Natural Heritage by Unesco of Humanity. On March 19, 2016, UNESCO recognized the Río Abiseo National Park as the Core Zone of the Gran Pajatén Biosphere Reserve.

Ecological importance

The ecological importance of the Río Abiseo National Park lies in the fact that it has different ecosystems, such as the Páramo de Loricaria, the Pajonal de Puna, a large number of aquifers (lakes, lagoons, rivers, streams), small isolated forests, the cloud forest or mist and typical forests of the High Forest.

It is estimated that 22% of this national park corresponds to Pajonales de Puna, 53% to mountain forests and the remaining 25% to pre-montane forests.

Geography

Location

It is located mainly in the San Martín region, province of Mariscal Cáceres on one of the few still uninhabited areas of the Andes. It also occupies areas of the Pataz Province in the La Libertad Region. The Río Abiseo National Park covers the entire basin of the river that gives it its name and corresponds to the Yungas ecoregion of Peru.

Characteristics of its flora

A large part of its surface is populated by a spectacular natural formation known as dwarf forests. A common characteristic of the trees of this region is that their branches are always covered with a thick coat of moss and populated by a legion of epiphytic plants: hundreds of varieties of delicate orchids, colorful bromeliads and lianas as thick as the body of a man. Tree ferns, whose leaves rise up to eight meters from the ground, giant begonias and an enormous variety of plants adapted to life in an environment where the exuberance and profusion of life hide the true axis of this ecosystem are common here: a fierce competition between species where the watchword is grow or die.

Here the cacti take the form of lianas and these the width of trees; the leaves are covered with hairs to withstand the cold and the trunks twist into strange designs. It is the kingdom of moss and fungi; lichens and flowers.

Morphology

This area occupies an area of 274,520 ha, with altitudes ranging between 350 and 4,200 masl.

Climate

This park has all the tropical characteristics, as it is hot and very humid, with temperatures that usually exceed 34° Celsius. It has a dry season from May to October, as well as a season of heavy rains, between December and March.

Archaeological sites

The national park presents a wealth of traces of pre-Columbian occupation, of unsuspected scientific and cultural value. To date, 36 archaeological sites have been registered. Remains of the Chachapoyas culture have been found in this protected area, among which the Gran Pajatén stands out, a semicircular fortress made of stone and decorated with human-shaped divinities. Considered an outstanding monumental complex for its special architectural design. Gran Pajatén was included in the list of threatened places that require conservation of the organization "World Monuments Watch" for the year 2014. Another site of special interest is the Los Pinchudos archaeological complex.

Flora and fauna

Floristic studies have determined that 2000 species are found in the national park, of which 13 are new records for science. Orchids stand out. In its high-Andean part there are grassy grasslands and small isolated woody forests. From approximately 3,200 meters there are continuous forests where woody species predominate, reaching a height of 20 to 30 meters. This national park treasures more than 1,000 species of flora, with orchids, bromeliads, ferns, and lichens that hang from the trees.

Among the 11 genera and 13 species of registered mammals, there is the yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda) rediscovered after one hundred years of being considered extinct, an endemic species in Peru and in danger of extinction; the mountain weevil (Agouti taczanowskii) and endangered species such as the taruca (Hippocamelus antisensis), the spectacled bear (Tremarctus ornatus) which builds platforms in the trees to rest and feed quietly, the jaguar (Panthera onca) and the mountain maquisapa (Ateles belzebuth).

Of the 132 bird species found, we can mention the white-bellied curassow (Crax salvini), the jungle condor (Sarcoramphus papa), the yellow-headed parrot (Amazona ochrocephala) and the chestnut-headed duck (Netta erythrophthalma).