A wide variety of eco-regions
Beyond the 3 emblematic regions, specialists actually count up to 11 eco-regions. In the north, at the border with Ecuador, there is a tropical sea and warmer waters towards Tumbes and Piura. Then, following the coast, the sea cools down and the fog is more recurrent, the famous "garúa". We then encounter the Pacific desert, a large arid fringe, dry in summer and wet in winter. The fog can crash on higher altitudes and form what is called "lomas", green oases with an unusual richness and crossed by numerous river branches. Near Lima, one can for example visit the Lomas de Lucumo
In the middle fringe, which is getting wider and wider, you will find the Pacific rainforest in the north, a narrow zone of immense trees and exuberant vegetation, in the heart of the department of Tumbes. Here you can observe the puma or the sloth. Then we meet the equatorial dry forest where thealgarrobo and the ceibo grow. The Andean peaks can be seen in the distance. The foothills are made up of the "serranía esteparia", a mountainous steppe relief that begins at an altitude of about 1,000 m, and presents a tangle of fertile valleys, thundering torrents where the cactus makes its appearance. The heights of the center and the south of the country are formed by the puna. Above 3,500 to 3,800 m, this landscape suffers from great variations in temperature between day and night, this is the land of condors and Andean flamingos.
Finally, we too often forget that the wealth of Peru is also and especially the Amazon. It too is diverse. It begins with the foothills of the Andes with the high jungle also called yunga or selva alta, with a hot and humid climate, with a mountainous and complex relief, with exuberant vegetation. Here you will find numerous orchids, enormous begonias and baroque ferns. You can find the gallito de las rocas (rock cockerel), Peru's national bird, or the choro de cola amarilla monkey, which was thought to have disappeared a short time ago, as well as the mythical quetzal of the Mayans of Guatemala. We then descend to the lowland jungle or tropical rainforest that covers two thirds of the national territory: the Amazon of our imagination. Here more than 20,000 species of plants have been recorded. The fauna includes the jaguar, the tapir, two species of dolphins, aquatic turtles, monkeys, black caimans and anacondas. Last ecological specificity, the palm savannah (at the eastern border of the department of Madre de Dios, near the Bolivian border) also nicknamed "Pampas del Heath" because of the border river, with a hot and humid climate, very rainy. Here you can find the swamp deer, the toucan, the "carpintero blanco " and large endemic rodents
A unique ornithological wealth
One of the most interesting, but also the most unknown, fauna is the birdlife. The country is regularly ranked between2nd and3rd in the world for birdwatching. We advise you to refer to the undisputed and annually updated bible (in English or Spanish only) Birds of Peru by Thomas S. Schulenberg, Thomas S Stotz, Daniel F Lane and John P O'neill, Princeton University Press. These insiders list each species with its characteristics and supporting drawings. Every year Peru organizes the Birding Rally Challenge hosted quite frequently in the lodges of the company Inkaterra, one of the pioneers of ecotourism in Peru. You can also follow in their footsteps at the comfortable Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica for example. But the lodges in the Amazon jungle are numerous and many have conservation projects that are welcome in an endangered region and in the face of a state that lacks the resources to protect its natural areas. The Tambopata Research Center, for example, manages a research project on the macaw, the emblematic parrot of the Amazon. The country is also home to endemic and emblematic species such as the gallito de las rocas (rock cockerel in French) which is also the national bird of Peru or numerous species of hummingbirds including the cola espatula hummingbird with its elegant princess-like tail which provides a unique spectacle in flight
Peru also has the largest number of butterfly species in the world. In the Tambopata jungle, around Puerto Maldonado, an observer could contemplate in an instant some 1,265 of the 4,000 species of butterflies that flutter through the air in Peru!
An equally surprising flora
The vegetation, in relation to the three great biogeographical zones, is of a great variety. On the coast, the vegetation is of the arid soil type with, in the north, mangrove swamps in the river arms and savannah type vegetation which alternates small bushes and cacti. On the slopes of the cordilleras, one finds a great diversity of cactus, a diversity much more important than on the coast. The most famous tree in Peru is the amazing puya raimondii, which can grow up to 12 m and which only grows in a few regions of the world. In the Andean valleys, grasses are very present (ichu is the best represented) as well as all kinds of mosses, lichens and herbs, the latter also in the puna. On the lower part of the slope that descends to the selva appears the tropical rainforest with a great variety of trees like cedar, many medicinal herbs and many other species. The total number of endemic species in Peru exceeds 200... The special conditions found in Peru make it a privileged place for orchids (a fabulous specimen can be seen at the Kuélap site, in the Chachapoyas region in the north). According to experts, the number of orchid species in Peru is between 1,850 and 3,000. Unfortunately, deforestation, the growing international orchid trade and local collectors have endangered the existence of many species. Rich in animals, the Amazon is also rich in rare woods: mahogany, cedar, palo de sangre (bloodwood), whose cutting, often done without care, is an economic blessing and an ecological blight. Of all these species, rubber caused the most fevers, representing, in the 1920s, a fifth of exports and having been the source of a cruel exploitation of Indian labor.
Regional parks to see
It is difficult to make a choice for the lover of all these treasures. Nevertheless, Unesco has already selected two parks that are not to be missed: the Manu National Park in the southern part of the Peruvian Amazon, which promises the best chance of observing the jaguar or the giant otter for example. The second classified park is the Huascarán in the Cordillera Blanca with its 6,878 meter high peak, unique Andean flora and species such as the condor and the spectacled bear. Two parks are also classified as places where it is important to protect both archaeological remains and natural diversity: Río Abiseo in the high jungle of the Peruvian north, which is quite difficult to access, but also the very famous Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, which is also a privileged space for wildlife. Spectacled bears sometimes venture into the site and had a field day when it was closed due to the global pandemic. The gardens are home to a rich variety of orchids, ferns and other tropical flora.
The Sernanp (Servicio Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas) protects between 16 and 17% of the national territory. The categories are distinct. There are 15 national parks, 15 national reserves and 9 sanctuaries. Finally, and this is an important part of the conservation task, many private natural conservation areas have been recognized and can be visited. The north, especially the Chachapoyas region, and the Amazon have several of these. In addition to the forest rangers and the sometimes difficult work of protecting them from deforestation, gold panning in the Amazon and hunting, the organization also communicates the importance of the resources generated by the natural protected areas, which provide hydroelectricity and carbon credits. Sernanp is part of the global conservation project REDD+, which finances the protection of forests, so that 8 million tons ofCO2 have not reached the atmosphere thanks to this work. Some areas are obviously virgin, but the challenge of Sernanp is also to educate and capitalize on the local population to protect these resources
Finally, on June 5, 2021, the Nasca National Backbone Reserve was born, the first marine protected area of its kind in Peru, representing 62,392 km2 of protected ocean or 8% of the Peruvian sea surface. It is 1,100 km long and 200 km wide, and its depths are home to an underwater mountain range that goes from 1,500 to 4,000 meters deep. In the heart of these underwater mountains, 1,116 species have been identified, 30 of which are endangered or vulnerable, such as the blue whale or the leatherback turtle, and nearly half of which are endemic species. This will also help migratory species, such as the humpback whale, during their long migration. This news has been greeted with a certain amount of scepticism by environmentalists, as industrial fishing (notably of tuna) is still possible within this reserve.
