Tambopata National Reserve

Tambopata National Reserve
IUCN category VI (protected area with sustainable use of natural resources)
Location	Peru Madre de Dios Region, Tambopata Province
Nearest city	Puerto Maldonado
Coordinates	12°55′14″S 69°16′55″W / 12.92056°S 69.28194°W / -12.92056; -69.28194Coordinates: 12°55′14″S 69°16′55″W / 12.92056°S 69.28194°W / -12.92056; -69.28194
Area	274,690 hectares (1,060.6 sq mi)
Established	September 04, 2000, 048-2000-AG.
Governing body	SERNANP

Tambopata National Reserve (Spanish: Reserva Nacional Tambopata) is a nature reserve in the Peruvian Amazon Basin south of the Madre de Dios River in Tambopata Province's Inambari and Tambopata districts. It was created on January 26, 1990, to protect the forests adjacent to the rivers Heath and Tambopata that have two important ecosystems and are noted for its biodiversity, representing native flora and fauna with over 1700 species (comprising 127 families and 622 genera) of plants, 103 species of mammals, 1300 species of butterflies and 90 species of amphibians.

The reserve is located across the regions of Madre de Dios and Puno:

Access is from Puerto Maldonado, where one can get to the preserve via the Tambopata River; or by car via the Puerto Maldonado–Cuzco Road (kilometer 30).

It has a surface area of 1,478,942 hectares (3,654,550 acres).

The Sandoval Lake is located in this area. There is also a circuit of canoeing which is considered one of the most exciting and beautiful circuits of Peru.

The protected area features eight life zones: subtropical humid forest, tropical humid forest, subtropical high-humidity forest, subtropical high-humidity foothills cloud forest, subtropical rainforest, tropical cloud forest foothills, subtropical lower foothills cloud forest and semi-flooded subtropical cloud forest.

Average annual temperature is 26 °C, ranging from 10-38 °C; with average annual rainfall of 1600–2400 mm. Rainfall in the protected area is typical of most areas in the Peruvian Amazon. The climate is humid and (3000 mm and 25 °C on average), sub-level humidity and semi-warm (1700 mm and 26 °C on average), high-level semi-warm (4000 mm and 23 °C).

A conservation process in the Tambopata Province (Madre de Dios) was initiated in Tambopata, where a group of naturalists and biologists proposed the conservation of 10,000 hectares of rainforests in the middle Tambopata River (January 3, 1977). This was established as "Zona Reservada Tambopata" (ZRT), in the territory of the traditional tribe Ese'eja. It was created for the conservation of the Amazon forest and for scientific research, as well as for tourism. In July 1977, the government had an arrangement with the Peruvian Safaris, owner of Explorer's Inn. This operator got an agreement for only five years. Differently, in 1983, the Santuario Nacional Pampas Del Heath (SNPH) was established, with a surface area of 105.957 hectares (261.83 acres). The purpose was to protect the unique territory of Sabana Húmeda Tropical in Peru.