Life on the Amazon

Earthwatch sends thousands of volunteers into the field each year to help scientists conduct important environmental research projects around the world. We’re thrilled to support these scientists, some of whom have been collecting long-term data for decades, and today we’d like to share one of their stories with you.

Dr. Richard Bodmer has conducted research in the western Amazon Basin since 1984. Based on a historic riverboat from the Rubber Boom era of the early 1900s, the work of Bodmer and his team spans not just years, but also species and landscapes.

Lined with rich rainforest and filled with an array of plants and animals, the great Amazon Basin is like no other place on Earth. The more than 35 species under study by Dr. Bodmer and his team represent just a tiny fraction of the life here – where biodiversity is among the highest on the planet.

In the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve and the Lago Preto Conservation Area, Bodmer works to uncover the effects of conservation actions on a number of wildlife populations.

Pacaya-Samiria, one of the largest protected areas in Peru, spans more than 20,000 square kilometers. Within this tropical rainforest the waters of the Andes merge and form the origin of the Amazon, which begins its march toward the Atlantic. Many of the species in the reserve can be found nowhere else, including the dwindling Amazon manatee.

Venturing even deeper into Amazonia, the isolated Lago Preto Conservation Area is home to countless plants and animals. Though you’re unlikely to run into another human while trekking through the reserve’s forest trails, you may very well cross paths with peccaries, primates, sloths, armadillos, capybaras – the list goes on.

In both reserves, an array of colorful macaws and other beautiful birds spread their wings against the ceiling of green overhead, while giant otters, caimans, turtles and fish glide through silty waterways. 

While the area teems with wildlife, the human population is among the lowest in all of South America. But the Cocama tribe has called the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve land home for centuries. Today, Cocama Indians still live off the land, hunting for meat, fishing Amazonian waters, and collecting the fruits of the forest.

Dr. Bodmer is a firm believer in the need to involve local communities in the management of the Amazon Basin’s wildlife and habitats.

With the bushmeat trade playing a significant role in the rural Amazonian economy, past attempts to eliminate hunting altogether proved disastrously unsuccessful. In fact, overly strict protection of the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve led to such bitterness between locals and reserve managers that in 1997, in retaliation for having their nets confiscated, fishermen attacked and killed a park guard and two biologists.

Since this devastating event, a new reserve administration began implementing a co-management policy, working alongside local community members to manage the reserve.

Instead of strictly forbidding locals to hunt on reserve land, areas protected against hunting were established next to hunting areas, in hopes of keeping hunting at sustainable levels and providing refuge for wildlife, while allowing the local bushmeat trade to continue in a responsible way.

But to better manage hunting in this reserve and others, it is crucial to have information on the impacts of hunting, current wildlife population levels, and which species are more vulnerable to over-hunting.

That’s where Bodmer and his team of researchers come in. Conducting research on a host of Amazonian wildlife, including macaws and other bird species, caimans, turtles, primates and a number of terrestrial and aquatic mammals, Bodmer’s long-term datasets provide crucial information to reserve managers working to conserve this precious area.

Learn more about the history of the Amazonian bushmeat trade, the management of the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, and Dr. Bodmer’s views on wildlife conservation. (pdf)

  Conservation and Research in Action: The Big Pay-Off

More than a decade has passed since the regime change at the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve and the resulting policy of co-management between local communities, conservation staff, and government. In that time, illegal poaching has decreased dramatically and, thanks to the hard work of Dr. Bodmer and his team, we know that wildlife populations in the reserve are on the rise. 

Comparisons of data from 1995 to information collected by Bodmer’s team in 2005 show increases in a number of key wildlife populations, from monkeys to otters. Going back into the field for his second season with Earthwatch volunteers in 2007, Bodmer was pleased to report that two years later, populations were faring even better.

Among the animals thriving under the new conservation strategy was the woolly monkey.

“This is an excellent sign for the conservation efforts of the reserve,” said Bodmer, “since woolly monkeys are very vulnerable to humans, especially bushmeat hunting. Ten years ago there were very few woolly monkeys in this area and their populations have recovered significantly.”

But Bodmer is also realizing that good news for one population may be bad news for another.

“The conservation actions of reducing hunting clearly are helping to increase the populations of large-bodied primates, but at the expense of small-bodied primates,” said Bodmer.

Other animals faring well compared to past years include the endangered Amazon manatee, the giant river otter, the pink river dolphin, various game bird species, the blue and gold macaw, the black caiman, and the red uakari monkey.

For some of these species, the population increase over just the past few years has been dramatic. Bodmer reports that while surveys in 2003 and 2004 recorded an average of only 1.5 manatees every two weeks, by 2006 the team was sighting eight individuals within the same timeframe.

“Both the manatee and the giant river otter are flagship species for the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve,” said Bodmer. “While their numbers are still low, the increasing trends in the populations are very positive.”

Read a full report on the results of Bodmer's 2006 research season (pdf).

Volunteers and researchers measuring a caiman before releasing it back to the river. © Ian & Jenine Langrish.

Woolly monkey in the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve. © Mark Bowler.

Fluke (tail-fin) of the famously pink Amazon River Dolphin, or Boto, as seen by a past Earthwatch Volunteer. © Mark Bowler.

Blue and gold macaws fly the Amazonian rainforest. © Mark Bowler.

  Earthwatch Volunteers Join Bodmer and his Research Team aboard the Ayapua

Dr. Bodmer's research vessel, the Ayapua. © Malene Christensen.

To determine the full impacts of conservation and management within the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve and the Lago Preto Conservation Area, more information is necessary. That’s why Dr. Richard Bodmer cherishes the support he receives from Earthwatch volunteers like you.

Earthwatch began supporting Bodmer’s research in 2006. That season, volunteers covered 754 kilometers of terrestrial transects, 265 kilometers of mammal transects on the rivers, 138 kilometers surveying caimans, and 98 kilometers surveying turtles. The teams also covered 280 points during macaw surveys and spent 168 hours conducting fish surveys.

“The volunteers were truly helpful in monitoring wildlife populations,” said Bodmer. “More data was collected than originally anticipated, and the amount of information exceeded our expectations.”

Earthwatch volunteers also helped Bodmer initiate new research methods, including mist-netting and surveys of wading birds.

As you read this, teams of Earthwatch volunteers are preparing for the experience of a lifetime onboard the Ayapua – a historic riverboat from the Rubber Boom of the early 1900s and the base of operations for the Amazon Riverboat Exploration expedition. Others are returning home to share their experiences with family, friends, and colleagues.

For 2010, all teams will travel to the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, via the Ucayali, Maranon, and Samiria Rivers. Volunteers should be aware that the threatened uakari monkey, studied on previous expeditions to the Yavari River, does not inhabit this National Reserve. Other species of monkey however, such as the capuchin monkey and spider monkey, may be encountered.