Highlighting the enormous biodiversity of the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve (ACR) and the critical role this protected area plays in the conservation of Madre de Dios, in southeastern Peru, Amarakaeri: Connecting Biodiversity offers readers a glimpse into the extensive research conducted by scholars from the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute and their Peruvian counterparts. For three years, scientists and local experts had the extraordinary opportunity to collect data to determine potential impacts on selected animal and plant groups in the areas surrounding an exploratory gas platform in the premontane forests of the ACR. Amarakaeri portrays the main threats to the ACR and presents a vision for the region's future.
Through more than 1,000 vivid and compelling photographs, Amarakaeri presents an overview of Madre de Dios, the ACR, and the ecosystem services provided by Amazonian tropical forests, followed by diversity chapters covering a sample of the unique birds, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, arthropods, and plants that make the ACR their home. The book highlights the critical role the ACR plays in the conservation of the Madre de Dios landscape and its importance as a keystone to ensure connectivity throughout the Vilcabamba-Amboro Conservation Corridor of South America.