The metal bridge in downtown Puerto Maldonado, above the mighty and murky Madre de Dios river, is not just any bridge. This 750-meter long suspension bridge, officially called the ‘Puente Guillermo Billinghurst’ after a Peruvian congressman, was finished in July 2011 and completed the 2600km-long Interoceanic Highway, which runs from the Atlantic Ocean through Brazil … Read more
As a novice conservation ecologist I had the adventurous task of monitoring wildlife populations in the Peruvian Amazon. My perspiring students and I would walk in a straight line through pristine rainforest, holding a GPS, binoculars and a datasheet, to record any monkey, jaguar or rat that we encountered. We had research permits to do … Read more
The Blue Morpho butterfly is an unforgettable sight for anyone who has been able to witness it flying through its natural habitat of the Amazon rainforest. The Blue Morpho certainly is a species that carries with it the true essence of the Amazon: beauty found in the heart of wildlife and a natural coexistence maintaining … Read more
I was immersed in half-empty forest fragments, surrounded by concrete or pastures, for most of my life. The once-thriving Atlantic Forest along Brazil’s coast was burned and razed over centuries of development, leaving behind mostly small and degraded patches of forest that account for less than 30% of its original extent. However, an incredible amount … Read more
