Alto Mayo Protected Forest

Alto Mayo protects around 180,000 hectares of montane cloud forest on the slopes above the Mayo valley, and the main highway from Rioja to Pedro Ruiz runs straight through it, which is both why it is easy to visit and why it has been so hard to protect. Birders come for a list that runs to hundreds of species including the royal sunangel, ochre-fronted antpitta and long-whiskered owlet, and the roadside feeders at Aguas Verdes and the Waqanki gardens near Moyobamba draw in hummingbirds at close range. Orchids are the other draw, with hundreds of species recorded and Moyobamba calling itself the city of orchids. The reserve has been settled by migrant farmers along the road for decades, mostly for coffee, and the response has been conservation agreements that trade support for commitments to stop clearing rather than eviction. Deforestation has slowed but not stopped.

History

The government first protected the area in 1963 as the Alto Mayo National Forest, but from the 1970s settlers cleared land inside it, and road workers hunted the yellow-tailed woolly monkey, rediscovered nearby in 1974. Research between 1974 and 1983 urged that the area be given conservation priority, the Carretera Marginal de la Selva was opened through it in 1979, and the forest was protected by decree in 1987 (Wikipedia, Alto Mayo Protection Forest).

The landscape

• The bird list - hundreds of species including royal sunangel and ochre-fronted antpitta.
• The feeders - hummingbirds at close range at Aguas Verdes and Waqanki.
• The orchids - hundreds of species in the forest above the road.
• The agreements - conservation deals with settled coffee farmers inside the reserve.

When to go

May to September is drier, though cloud forest is wet all year. Birding is best at dawn. A day for the roadside sites, several days with a lodge and guide for the specialities.

Things to know

Constant damp, mud and leeches in the forest. The highway runs through the reserve, so traffic noise reaches many sites. Sought-after birds like the owlet need patience, a guide and luck. Cleared farmland is visible throughout.

Nearby

Abra Patricia and Huembo are further up the same highway; Moyobamba is east.

Key facts