Last week, Peru, known for its remote and vast rainforests, created the Yaguas National Park in order to protect millions of acres from development and deforestation.

​

This is one of the most recent national parks formed in the western hemisphere and it protects more than two-million acres of Amazonian forest, an area close to the size of Yellowstone National Park, according to the National Audubon Society.

​

“This is a place where the forest stretches to the horizon,” said Corine Vriesendorp, a conservation ecologist at The Field Museum in Chicago, according to the New York Times. “This is one of the last great intact forests on the globe.” The Field Museum is one of many organizations that worked on winning the national park designation.

​

This region contains many species that are endemic, meaning they are found only in a specific area. In particular, a vast river system within the area is home to some of richest fish faunas in the world. Scientific work being done by the Field Museum of Chicago and scientific counterparts in Peru show the Yaguas watershed contains more types of freshwater fish than anywhere else in the world, approximately 550 species, according to the Andes Amazon Fund blog. These fish species are also an important food source for communities that live downstream. In addition to the many fish species, the Yaguas National Park protects threatened wildlife, including some 3,000 plant, 600 bird and more than 150 mammal species, such as giant otters, woolly monkeys, Amazon River dolphins and manatees, according to the New York times.

​

The presence of endangered giant otters suggests that the aquatic ecosystem is still healthy. This is particularly important because the headwaters of a tributary to the Amazon is located within the park. Potentially three-quarters of the Putumayo River will be unfragmented across northern Peru, giving wildlife a vast corridor.

​

The preservation of this area could also be important in reducing carbon emissions. Peat bogs have been spotted from above, which are able to store massive amounts of carbon. This is critical to decreasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, but these protections are challenging to keep.

​

“For now, Yaguas is safe, but in the 20 years I’ve been working in the Amazon, I’ve learned the hard way that today’s remoteness is tomorrow’s access,” said Gregory Asner, an ecologist at the Carnegie Institution for Science, reported the New York Times.

​

This move is also important to Peru’s indigenous population. The New York Times reports that more than 1,000 people live along a 125-mile stretch of the Yaguas and Putumayo rivers. This place is “sachamama,” roughly meaning “mother jungle” in Quechua, which is where the flora and fauna that at least six indigenous groups depend on is produced. For the past two decades, indigenous federations in this area have been working to protect the land.

​

“A national park of this size and significance can only be created with long-term, multi-faceted collaboration between civil society organizations, local peoples, and government agencies, each fulfilling a key role,” said conservationist Adrian Forsyth, P.h.D., Executive Director of the Andes Amazon Fund, according to their blog.

​

The move is also in accordance with international agreements related to the environment and global climate change. According to a United Nations (UN) report from 2014, Peru was already facing the impacts of global climate change, such as receding glaciers. The report said that glacial areas in the Peruvian Andes retreated by 20 percent to 35 percent between the 1960s and 2000s, with most of this occurring after 1985. Forested areas and peat bogs act as carbon sinks, which are important to slowing the increase of global air temperatures.

​

In stark contrast, the Trump administration has already started opening up previously protected lands. The Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was tasked with deciding which national monuments will face changes. Additionally, last week the proposal for the Department of the Interior boasted an $18 million fund for the National Park Service’s maintenance, but would be paid for by opening up public lands to oil and gas extraction, according to Outside.

​

Many are celebrating Peru’s decision to protect such a large parcel of land. This move is a big win for those who were instrumental in persuading the Peruvian government to give the area the highest distinction as a national park.