Creation of the Abra Patricia-Alto Nieva Reserve to Protect the
Long-whiskered Owlet and Ochre-fronted Antpitta, Peru

Region:	Yungas Forests in Northern Peru, on the eastern slope of the Andes, Departments of Amazonas and San Martin
Partner:	Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos (ECOAN)
Initiation:	July 2004

Long-whiskered Owlet. Photo: ECOAN

The area's bird list includes 317 species of which 23 are considered globally threatened. These include the Endangered Long-whiskered Owlet (Xenoglaux loweryi), Ochre-fronted Antpitta (Grallaricula ochraceifrons), two species which make this an Alliance for Zero Extinction site, along with Royal Sunangel (Heliangelus regalis), and Ash-throated Antwren (Herpsilochmus parkeri). The Critically Endangered yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Oreonax flavicauda) also occurs here. Several songbirds that breed in North America such as the Alder Flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum), Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus), and Blackburnian Warbler (Dendroica fusca) winter in the forests on the Abra Patricia PCA.

Once protected by its remote and inaccessible habitat, Abra Patricia is now threatened by its accessibility through a major paved road as well as the construction of new roads, bringing with them logging, agriculture, and cattle ranching, as well as poaching of wildlife and orchids.

Objective: To establish a private conservation area and obtain a conservation concession on additional lands to ensure the protection of threatened and migratory birds.

Photo: Fundación ProAves

Actions:
1. Establish the Abra Patricia private conservation area by acquiring 3,440 hectare (8,500 acre).
2. Obtain a conservation concession on an additional 16,000 hectares (40,000 acres) adjacent to the private conservation area.
3. Ensure the reserve is managed effectively for threatened biodiversity.
4. Ensure sustainability of the reserve through long-term financial mechanisms, including ecotourism (constructing an ecolodge) and the sale of avoided deforestation carbon credits.
5. Developing community-based conservation and sustainable development activities (such as nature tourism guide training and silvipasture programs) in surrounding communities to protect the reserve and concession buffer zones.

Accomplishments:
1. So far, 2,710 hectares (6,690 acres) have been acquired to establish the Abra Patricia Reserve.
2. In March 2008, three new properties were acquired to expand the Reserve.
3. In October 2007, the Abra Patricia-Alto Nieva Private Conservation Area was officially recognized by Peru's Institute of Natural Resources (INRENA).
4. As of September 2007, the ecotourism lodge constructed and operational.

For more information about this project or ABC’s work in northern Peru, contact

Visit the lodge at Abra Patricia