Nature Conservancy Site of the Week – #1
Kicking off a weekly feature of this blog is the first Nature Conservancy Site of the Week, the Central Selva Protection Area. Located in the eastern slope of the Andes in Peru, the Central Selva Protection Area includes Yanachaga-Chemillen National Park at almost 300,000 acres. The Conservancy also has an influence on almost 5 million acres of land in this area that helps preserve more than 500 species of birds including the Harpy Eagle and 85 mammal species. Some 2,500 species of trees and shrubs have been classified in the area, a number that is estimated to be much higher (closer to 6,000).
What makes this area so great and especially important to me is that I fantasize daily about traveling to Peru and that many cool birds we have in the U.S. winter in the area: Blackburnian Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Eastern Kingbird, and Yellow-billed Cuckoo.
You can read more about this area in Parks in Peril and the Yanachaga-Chemillen National Park site.
I recommend buying the Birds of Peru (link to the American Birding Association) because whether you’re going to visit or not, it is an awesome book to study.
