Abiseo River

It was declared Cultural and Natural Patrimony of Humankind by the UNESCO. It is located in the department of San Martín, province of Mariscal Cáceres, Huicungo district over an area of 274 520 hectares.This park has seven living zones, which go from 1,148.29 to 13,779.53 feet above sea level, with a great diversity of flora and fauna. The Park is mostly made up of cloud forests with the largest diversity of plants, following the tropical humid forests. Its flora includes ferns, orchids, bromeliads, reeds, moss and typical plants of the high jungle. Around 261 genuses, 105 families and 1 000 species of flora have been identified, 13 of which have been considered new for the science, and 50 have not been determined yet. Among the 11 types and 13 species of mammals registered, we can find the yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda), which is an endemic and endangered specie in Peru; the mountain paca (Agouti taczanowskii); and threatened species such as the Peruvian guemal locally known as taruca (Hippocamelus antisensis), the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), the jaguar (Panthera onça), and the white-bellied spider monkey (Ateles belzebuth). From the 132 bird species found, we can mention the Salvin's curassow (Crax salvini), the king vulture (Sarcoramphus papa), the yelow-crowned parrot (Amazona ochrocephala), and the southern pochard (Netta erythrophthalma).



This National Park has a huge biological richness and some remains of pre-Colombian occupation with inestimable cultural and scientific value. The main archaeological site, among the 36 so far discovered, is the Gran Pajatén, considered as the most impressing monumental complex due to its special architectonic design, compared in Latin America to the Tikal National Park in Guatemala. The Río Abiseo National Park mainly aims at the protection of the cloud forests in the highland jungle and the high-altitude jungle, preserving species of the wild fauna such as the yellow-tailed woolly monkey, which is in danger of extinction.Through studies on glacial geology it was possible to determine the extension and age of glaciations and to compare them with the glacial records of the Junin Lake. The Manachaqui valley has several geomorphic elements: rock valley walls stretching over the glacial limit, morrenas (lateral and terminal), alluvial fans, and bottom sediments along the central section of the valley. In brief, deglaciation started more than 12,000 years ago; short afterwards, hillsides became more stable, a layer of loess was deposited and soils were formed, which suggests that the landscape has been quite stable under current conditions. There is some evidence of recent landslides, but only a small portion of the area has been affected.