New Bajo Putumayo Yaguas Communal Reserve Supports Indigenous Stewardship in the Peruvian Amazon

A significant step forward for conservation and Indigenous rights was achieved with the official establishment of the Bajo Putumayo Yaguas Communal Reserve. This new protected area, located in the northeast corner of the Peruvian Region of Loreto spans 396,862 acres (160,604.41 hectares) of Amazonian forests and rivers rich with life. Bajo Putumayo Yaguas is home to thousands of species of flora and fauna including unique species such as the Amazonian manatee and the tapir frog, the latter not recorded anywhere else in the world. Its establishment on September 26, 2025, comes after a decades-long effort by local Indigenous communities later followed by civil society organizations and the Peruvian government. The new communal reserve adds a key piece to a massive biocultural corridor in northern Peru and southern Colombia, ensuring connectivity between several protected areas and Indigenous lands.

Ecosystems and Biodiversity in the New Reserve

The Bajo Putumayo Yaguas Communal Reserve protects a vast and ecologically rich landscape within the western Amazon basin.This area is extremely biodiverse, with estimates of over 4,554 species of flora and fauna and at least 70 threatened species. The terrain of the communal reserve is characterized by a mosaic of tropical forests, winding “blackwater” rivers and hidden oxbow lakes. The reserve’s ecosystems include primary Amazonian forests, alluvial floodplains, non-flooded terrace forests, and vast palm swamps, which provide sanctuary for endemic and endangered species.

There are 21 endangered mammal species protected within its borders which include: the Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis), Amazonian river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), gray dolphin (Sotalia fluviatilis), giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), tapir (Tapirus terrestris), giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus), Colombian red howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus), lucifer titi monkey (Callicebus lucifer), and the common woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagothricha), among others. The communal reserve is home to 65% of Peru’s freshwater fish species as well as 32% of mammals recorded in the country and protects at least 13 plant species categorized as threatened globally. The reserve also provides a critical habitat for the recently recorded tapir frog (Synapturanus danta), a species found in 2019 that has not been recorded by science anywhere else in the world. Its carbon-rich forests also play a vital role in global climate regulation due to their high biomass levels. 

Enhanced Indigenous Governance

The communal reserve was established in direct response to a proposal made by local Indigenous communities during the prior consultation process for the adjacent Yaguas National Park. The creation of the Bajo Putumayo Yaguas Communal Reserve will directly benefit 13 titled Indigenous communities belonging to six ethnicities: Bora, Kichwa, Murui-Muinani, Yagua, Ocaina, and Ticuna. 

According to Peter Oesterling, Program Officer at Andes Amazon Fund: “The creation of the Bajo Putumayo Yaguas Communal Reserve is a testament to how community-led, participatory conservation is a fundamental means for creating protected areas. The Indigenous Peoples of Bajo Putumayo were the driving force behind this hard-earned achievement, and will be the primary protagonists for the area’s effective management hand-in-hand with the Peruvian National Parks Service.”

Under the communal reserve model, the Indigenous communities will co-manage the area in partnership with Peru’s National Service of Natural Protected Areas (SERNANP). The reserve’s creation was guided by a comprehensive prior consultation process with local communities, including the active participation of Indigenous federations such as the Federación de Comunidades Indígenas del Bajo Putumayo (FECOIBAP) and the Organización de Comunidades Indígenas del Bajo Putumayo y Río Yaguas (OPCIBRY). The collaborative governance structure empowers the communities to participate in the management of a national-level protected area composed of their ancestral territories while leveraging their traditional knowledge for the protection of its ecosystems. This model fosters local economies based on the sustainable management of natural resources, such as sustainable fishing practices and the harvest of non-timber forest products, thereby ensuring food security, access to clean water, and the preservation of cultural heritage.

Strengthening a Critical Conservation Corridor

The establishment of the new Bajo Putumayo Yaguas Communal Reserve comes at a crucial time, reinforcing protection against threats such as illegal mining, logging, and agricultural expansion that cause deforestation and habitat fragmentation. In this sense the reserve fills an important gap in a broad transboundary landscape of protected areas and Indigenous territories. 

The Bajo Putumayo Yaguas Communal Reserve is adjacent to Yaguas National Park and the recently established Medio Putumayo Algodón Regional Conservation (RCA) and neighbours the Cotuhé Conservation Concession and over a dozen titled Indigenous lands. The new Bajo Putumayo Yaguas Communal Reserve therefore adds a key piece to a massive biocultural corridor in northern Peru termed the “Putumayo-Amazonas landscape”, ensuring connectivity between numerous protected areas and Indigenous territories spanning 5 million acres in Peru. It also contributes to a mosaic of protected areas across the border in Colombia with the Territoriality of the Indigenous Peoples in Isolation between the Caquetá and Putumayo Rivers, Rio Puré National Park, and proposed Predio Putumayo and Ríos Cotuhé y Putumayo Indigenous Reserve expansions. 

On a transboundary scale, the reserve strengthens the Putumayo-Içá Corridor, a vast and critically important forest shared by Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil. This corridor is one of the best-conserved forest areas in the Amazon, and maintaining its uninterrupted expanse is vital for regional conservation efforts and the migration of wide-ranging species. Therefore the new reserve enhances the entire landscape’s resilience and ecological integrity.

Acknowledgements: 
The Bajo Putumayo Yaguas Communal Reserve was established through the leadership and participation of the Federación de Comunidades Indígenas del Bajo Putumayo (FECOIBAP) and the Organización de Comunidades Indígenas del Bajo Putumayo y Río Yaguas (OPCIBRY), Organización Regional de Pueblos Indígenas del Oriente (ORPIO), Asociación Interétnica de Desarollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP), Asociación Nacional de los Ejecutores de Contratos de Administración de las Reservas Comunales del Perú (ANECAP), surrounding Indigenous communities, Yaguas National Park, and Peru’s National Service of Natural Protected Areas (SERNANP) with support from Instituto del Bien Común, Andes Amazon Fund, the Wyss Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Rainforest Trust, Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental, Frankfurt Zoological Society Peru, Conservation International Peru, and the Field Museum of Chicago.