Powerful Woodpecker by Kevin Heffernan

ABC and our Peruvian partner ECOAN have established a new reserve totaling more than 2,400 acres, which will protect high-altitude cloud forests in central Peru.  The San Marcos Private Conservation Area (PCA) will also protect part of the upper watersheds of biodiversity-rich Tingo Maria National Park. Bird species in the new reserve include Fire-throated Metaltail, Powerful Woodpecker, and Brown-flanked Tanager.  Only thirty percent of the forest has been surveyed, however, and it is possible that the endemic and endangered Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager may also occur here.  In addition, five new plant species and two new frog species have been discovered in the protected area.

The San Marcos PCA is located on land owned by 125 families of the San Marcos community near Huanuco and will be managed by the local community. With support from ABC and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, ECOAN worked with the San Marcos community to design the reserve, earning final approval from the Peruvian government in June 2011.

Private Conservation Areas are an increasingly effective means to preserve lands in Peru and serve as strong examples of the solid conservation results that can be achieved when local communities engage with government agencies, and private non-profit groups work together. ABC and ECOAN have also established seven community-owned and operated Private Conservation Areas in the Cordillera Vilcanota of southern Peru to protect Polylepis forests.