An exciting new location for research and field courses in the Peruvian Amazon.
The Amazon Conservation Association (ACA) is nearing completion of its
third biological station, Villa Carmen, at the foot of the eastern Andes,
in Cusco, and at the beginning of the Amazon rainforest. The new station
links ACA's two older stations, Wayqecha, at the cloud forest treeline at
3000 m (11,500 feet), and Los Amigos, at 250 m (800 feet), in lowland
rainforest, both bordering Manu National Park. This tropical elevation
gradient spans an unparalleled transition of ecosystems, from the
biologically rich Amazon to barren subglacial highlands, and includes a
unique human crossroads: the meeting of Andean (Quecha), Amazonian
(Machiguenga and Wachiperi), and global cultures.
Our three stations have excellent infrastructure to host researchers and
university courses, including lodging and dining space, classrooms,
laboratories, electricity, Internet, extensive trail systems, and amenities
such as rainforest observation towers, a canopy walkway, and river rafting.
To date, we have hosted over three hundred research projects and over one
hundred courses and workshops on topics ranging from tropical ecology and
climate change to anthropology and ethnobiology.
I urge you to give thought to ACA stations and educational experience if
you are considering developing new research projects and/or field courses
in tropical environments. I will be happy to discuss this further with you,
and, if you are interested, help you develop your own course or project to
take your students to the Amazon. Please, feel free to email me with
questions at
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected]
or look for further
information about our stations at
<http://www.amazonconservation.org/pdf/aca_biological_stations.pdf>http://www.amazonconservation.org/pdf/aca_biological_stations.pdf
and at
<http://www.amazonconservation.org>www.amazonconservation.org
--
Adrian Tejedor, PhD
Gerente de Investigación
Asociación para la Conservación
de la Cuenca Amazónica
Jirón Cusco 499, Puerto Maldonado, Peru
<http://www.acca.org.pe>www.acca.org.pe
www.amazonconservation.org
