Gold mining and water contamination
Alluvial mining leaves degraded areas and contaminated water bodies, creating one of the region’s most urgent restoration challenges.
Amazon Rainforest
Tambopata · Madre de Dios
Where ITA’s field research began in 1978. Today, this landscape brings together long-term research, conservation, learning and sustainable use.
About the landscape
A forest of rivers and oxbow lakes.
The Lower Madre de Dios is a mosaic of lowland rainforest, rivers, oxbow lakes, Brazil nut forests and palm swamps. It is where ITA’s long-term field research began and where research, conservation, sustainable production and learning continue to intersect across the landscape.
Key challenges
A landscape under growing pressure.
Madre de Dios faces increasing pressure from deforestation, mining, habitat fragmentation and changes in land use. These forces affect biodiversity, water systems and the communities that depend on the forest.
Deforestation and habitat loss
Forest conversion and extractive activities reduce habitat and alter the ecological processes that sustain wildlife.
Fragmentation and connectivity
As forest areas become disconnected, species lose access to larger territories, food sources and movement corridors.
Loss of traditional knowledge and sustainable practices
Changes in land use and livelihoods can weaken the transmission of local knowledge linked to plants, food, forest management and sustainable use.
Where we work here
Across the Madre de Dios landscape.
ITA’s work in Madre de Dios extends beyond a single station or property. Research, conservation, restoration and sustainable production connect multiple sites across the landscape.
Schematic map, not to scale.
Research, conservation and learning
Amazon Field Station
A field station that connects GreenLab, long-term monitoring, living collections, training and field research within the Amazon landscape. It welcomes researchers, students and travelers into an environment where conservation is part of the everyday experience.
Related
Projects & initiatives
Research, conservation and sustainable use in action.
Across Madre de Dios, ITA connects long-term research, field monitoring, living collections, restoration and sustainable production.
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Research
Molecular biology and microbiology in the Amazon, allowing samples to be processed close to where they are collected.
GreenLab brings scientific capacity into the Amazon itself. Its work includes DNA extraction, sequencing, DNA barcoding, microbiology and research on microorganisms from different environments.
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Research · Conservation
Long-term bird monitoring through banding, point counts and acoustic recording.
Bird banding allows researchers to learn about survival, site fidelity, movement and territory. Point counts and acoustic monitoring extend this work across different parts of the landscape.
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Research · Conservation
Understanding how wildlife uses the forest over time.
Camera traps record where and when species use the landscape, helping ITA build long-term information on wildlife presence, activity and response to environmental change.
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Education · Conservation financing
Access to the forest canopy for observation, education and visitor experiences.
Access to the forest canopy for observation, education and visitor experiences, while contributing to ITA’s conservation financing model.
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Sustainable use · Education
A living collection of useful Amazonian plants and the knowledge associated with them.
The Biohuerto brings together food crops, tubers, medicinal, aromatic and dye plants, peppers and other useful Amazonian species. Much of this knowledge has been maintained and shared by local communities and families.
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Restoration
Rebuilding habitat in degraded areas with native forest and fruit species.
ITA works to restore degraded land by combining forest and fruit species that progressively rebuild habitat and create conditions for wildlife to return.
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Research · Restoration
Studying microorganisms that could contribute to restoring water affected by gold mining.
The project studies bacteria, yeasts, algae and other microorganisms from mining-affected environments, assessing their response to metals such as mercury and arsenic. The work is still at the research stage and is not yet a proven remediation solution.
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Conservation · Education
A living collection of Amazonian palms for conservation, research and interpretation.
The Palmetum highlights the ecological and cultural importance of palms and the many ways Amazonian communities have used them for food, fibres, oils, tools, crafts and construction.
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Restoration · Sustainable use
Forest species and crops growing together to create value while maintaining ecological functions.
At Chacra Gamitana, crops, fruit trees, palms and forest species are combined within agroforestry systems that support production, habitat and longer-term landscape recovery.
InkaterraThe fruit pulp supplies Inkaterra hotels.
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Conservation · Sustainable use
An economy that depends on the forest remaining standing.
Brazil nut harvesting creates value from a living forest. ITA’s work around Lago Valencia connects forest conservation, seasonal harvesting and a productive chain based on maintaining the forest.
InkaterraThe nuts supply Inkaterra hotels.
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Conservation
Forest areas managed or connected to long-term conservation within the Lower Madre de Dios landscape.
Forest areas managed or connected to long-term conservation within the Lower Madre de Dios landscape.
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Education
Field-based courses and workshops in the Amazon.
Field-based courses and workshops that connect scientific knowledge with practical experience in the Amazon.
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Research
Decades of data on how Amazonian forests grow and change.
Permanent plots established in Reserva Amazónica have generated long-term information on forest growth, composition and carbon dynamics, forming part of a wider history of ecological research in the landscape.
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Conservation · Sustainable use
A living collection of Amazonian vanilla species for conservation, research and propagation.
The collection connects conservation, research, propagation and cultivation while exploring future applications for value-added products.
Knowledge from this landscape
Research and publications.
Research in Madre de Dios has generated books, inventories, studies and reports that document the biodiversity, ecology and communities of this landscape.
- Book2007Flórula de la Reserva Ecológica InkaterraInka Terra Asociación and the Missouri Botanical Garden
- Book2005Cusco Amazónico: The Lives of Amphibians and ReptilesWilliam E. Duellman
- Study2004Plantas útiles de la Reserva Amazónica, Madre de DiosL. Valenzuela, G. Calatayud, I. Huamantupa, E. Suclli, J. Farfán and A. Carazas · Missouri Botanical Garden
- Report2004Diagnóstico organizacional y propuesta de fortalecimiento de las comunidades del Bajo Madre de DiosR. Ugarte and D. Boluarte · IDEAR
Gallery
Images from Madre de Dios.
Latest from the Amazon
From the field.
Research updates, project milestones, training activities and new findings from ITA’s work in Madre de Dios.