Week ONe

We have had 5 days at the logging concession of Green Gold Forestry Group (GGF). Things are going really well here in the jungle. We are making impressive progress, having decided on suitable sampling sites, cleared trails, set and baited 36 butterfly traps in no more than a week. The first cycle of butterfly collection is underway and we are excited to see the results of our efforts. Clearing a path through thick rainforest, working in the intense heat and humidity where everything wants a taste of your sweat, flesh or blood is no easy feat!

There is an abundance of wildlife here and patches of untouched primary forest we are very excited to explore. We have made observations of various interesting species, including a pit viper (Bothrop sp.), moustached tamarins (Saguinus mystax), and the critically endangered Peruvian yellow-tailed wooly monkey (Lagothrix falvicauda). According to DeLuycher and Heymann (2007), the latter was last seen in Loreto in the 1980s. With this information its distribution may be extended beyond the regions of Amazonas and San Martin.

We met with IIAP (Peruvian Amazon Research Institute) and Dr Cesar Delgado in Iquitos, and with whom we will be sharing this kind of data. GGF have also been an enormous support in buying us gear, sharing their tree data, providing transport and helpers, for which we are incredibly grateful.

Internet is intermittent though I will do my best to send updates and photos, wifi permitting. That’s all for now.

¡Hasta luego!