The Loja Municipal Conservation and Sustainable Use Area in the Ecuadorian Andes, originally declared in late 2020 with AAF support, was expanded on June 14, 2022 to include an additional 109,279 acres, bringing the area’s total to 182,980 acres. Located on the southeastern slopes of the Andes, the Loja Municipal Conservation and Sustainable Use Area encompasses…
Read MoreThe government of Colombia announced today the launch of a new Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) initiative called Heritage Colombia (Herencia Colombia in Spanish, or HECO for short). PFPs are designed to secure funding for the effective and long-lasting protection of our planet’s most important natural places. This model has already been successfully applied in…
Read MoreAndes Amazon Fund (AAF) proudly announces the creation of the Quilanga Municipal Conservation Area in Loja, Ecuador. Declared on May 6, 2022, the area spans 26,273 acres (10,623 hectares) of native forest and paramos with an altitudinal range of 6,560 – 8,860 feet above sea level. Its creation is the result of two years of…
Read MoreAndes Amazon Fund (AAF) celebrates the creation of the Camanti Sostenible Conservation Concession in the Camanti district of Cusco, Peru. The area protects 38,172 acres (15,448 hectares) of one of the most impressive cloud forests in the southwestern Amazonia, ranging in altitude from 1,800 to 7,200 feet (550-2,200 meters) above sea level. Camanti Sostenible adds…
Read MoreAndes Amazon Fund celebrates the creation of the Bahia Watershed Municipal Protected Area in the department of Pando in Bolivia. The area protects 8,952 acres (3,623 hectares) of montane and Amazonian forests in a region considered as a priority for biodiversity conservation by the Bolivian government. Pando is the only department of Bolivia that completely overlaps…
Read MoreThe Serranías de Altuncama-Apolo Municipal Conservation Area Complex in La Paz, Bolivia was declared on October 19, 2021, and protects more than 20,600 acres of montane forests and savannas in the buffer zone of the world-famous Madidi National Park. The Altuncama-Apolo mountain range includes several unique rock formations and is an important source of water…
Read MoreThis past year, Andes Amazon Fund (AAF) and our partner organizations worked tirelessly to protect wilderness areas and Indigenous lands. In spite of the challenges due to the pandemic, we achieved some remarkable successes. More than 5.8 million acres (2.4 million hectares) received new legal protection with AAF support in 2021, bringing the total area…
Read MoreAndes Amazon Fund celebrates the establishment of the Espíndola and Catamayo Municipal Conservation Areas in the province of Loja, Ecuador. These areas protect native forests and endemic species that add to an ecological corridor that includes Podocarpus and Yacuri National Parks. As a result, these connected ecosystems can thrive and build resilience for local communities…
Read MoreThe new Bosques del Futuro (Forests of the Future) Conservation Concession in Peru protects 2,338 acres of a unique and fragile ecosystem in the San Martin region. It was declared on November 5, 2021. The area has registered unique flora and fauna that includes the balata tree (Manilkara bidentata), a unique species of staghorn fern…
Read MoreWith just a few days left before 2022, Peru announced the creation of the Misquiyaco Private Conservation Area in Cusco on December 29, 2021. It lies in the buffer zone of historic Machu Picchu and protects 4,443 acres of rich flora and fauna. The area has registered up to 74 bird species, 10 of which…
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