Las Piedras River Research Resources
This resource was created to assist researchers interested in operating on the Las Piedras River, in one of Peru’s most biodiverse and ecologically significant regions. Over the years, I’ve received many questions about conducting research on the river, and this hub aims to address those inquiries by providing comprehensive and practical information.
Here, you’ll find:
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A list of organizations with long-term projects operating in the watershed.
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Details about field stations and permitting requirements.
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A curated bibliography of published literature from research conducted on the river.
I hope this resource serves as a valuable starting point for your work on the Las Piedras. If you have suggestions or notice any missing literature, please don’t hesitate to contact me—I welcome your input to make this resource as complete and useful as possible.
Organizations and Field Stations Operating on the Las Piedras River
The Las Piedras River in southeastern Peru is home to several impactful conservation and research organizations, each working to protect the region’s rich biodiversity and fragile ecosystems. Some might be more suitable for collaboration than others depending on your research objectives and geographic location on the watershed.
Most if not all of the organizations hire local people as a part of their mission towards sustainable growth on the river and have programs designed to involve park stewards (sometimes known as rangers) in research and conservation efforts.
Junglekeepers
Junglekeepers Peru is a conservation organization dedicated to protecting and preserving the rainforest in the Las Piedras River watershed, located in the Madre de Dios region of Peru. Founded with a mission to safeguard one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth, Junglekeepers collaborates with local communities, researchers, and volunteers to combat deforestation and promote sustainable practices.
Junglekeepers manages multiple conservation and Brazil nut concessions in the central portion of the tributary, from near the Lucerna Port, to above the Huascar river confluence. Most of the concessions are pristine with minimal disturbance.
Additionally, the organization has actively contributed to several research initiatives by providing both financial support and logistical assistance to scientists and conservationists studying on the tributary. These contributions have enabled studies on biodiversity, biogeography and ecology.
Junglekeepers often work in collaboration with Alta Sanctuary (Formally known as the Las Piedras Biodiversity Station). An overview of the research station, including its accommodations, habitat and research history is available at: https://www.ecotropica.eu/index.php/ecotropica/article/view/125/47
Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon
ASA operates Finca Las Piedras, a research and education center in the Madre de Dios region. Their mission is to conserve biodiversity through research, reforestation, and education programs, focusing on sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of Amazonian ecosystems.
Althoug Finca Las Piedras is not within the Las Piedras Tributary, it is situated in an important area near the inter-oceanic highway, one of the greater drivers of deforestation in the tributary.
Hoja Nueva
Hoja Nueva is a conservation organization based in the Madre de Dios region of Peru, focusing on sustainable development, community engagement, and biodiversity conservation in the Amazon rainforest. Hoja Nueva integrates research, conservation, and local collaboration to protect the rainforest while improving the livelihoods of local communities.
Hoja Nueva specializes in wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, and release. They work with a variety of species, including threatened and endangered animals, emphasizing the importance of preserving the Amazon’s unique biodiversity. Additionally, the organization supports scientific studies on species ecology, conservation biology, and ecosystem health. Research conducted through Hoja Nueva contributes to understanding species behaviors, habitats, and the broader Amazon ecosystem.
ARBIO
ARBIO Peru is a women-led conservation organization dedicated to the protection and management of tropical forests in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon. Its mission is to conserve Amazonian ecosystems through study, outreach for environmental awareness and the generation of innovative approaches to forest preservation. Founded in 2010, ARBIO works to ensure the long-term health of one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth. ARBIO is especially dedicated to the study, care and conservation of the great ancient trees, species that are being cut down by the timber industry. It also has a fungarium and is developing studies in the Fungi kingdom associated with forests and ancestral trees.
ARBIO manages more than 900 hectares of rainforest along the Las Piedras River, focusing on the protection of primary forest. Its efforts aim to preserve critical wildlife habitats, safeguard biodiversity, and maintain ecosystem services. A research station on the property is available to researchers.
Permitting Requirements
Depending on your research objectives, you may require one or more authorizations, such as a Research/Collecting Permit (https://www.gob.pe/serfor), an Export Permit, or a Genetic Resources Contract (http://sinia.minam.gob.pe). The property managers and operational entities have relationships with some neighboring concession holders, and parts of these agreements include trail use. Additional memorandums of understanding may be required depending on the research objectives intended to sample those areas. The above list is not necessarily exhaustive in its coverage; always ensure you have reviewed the required and current permitting with both your local and international partners.
Bibliography and Additional Resources
Ecology and Biogeography
Birds
Díaz A, Dimming G (2017). Distribution of Violaceous Quail Dove Geotrygon violacea in Peru with four new localities. Cotinga 39: 40-43.
Fishes
Carvalho T, Ortega H, Reis R, Flores J, Espino J, Jerep F, Trevejo G, Albert J (2012) Fishes from the Las Piedras River, Madre de Dios basin, Peruvian Amazon. Check List 8: 973-1019. https://doi.org/10.15560/8.5.973
Herpetofauna
Champagne PS (2022) Conservation ecology of Eunectes murinus (Green Anaconda) in the Madre de Dios region of southeastern Peru using remote sensing techniques and machine learning driven geospatial modeling (MSc dissertation, Acadia University). https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3739/datastream/PDF/file.pdf
Champagne PS, Herman TB, Rosolie P, Singer D, Horton D, Payne CJ, Dablin L, Colville D, Cardenas J, Quevedo M, Avery T. (2004) Does the Southern Green Anaconda, Eunectes murinus, seek areas of high prey concentration in southeastern Peru?. Food Webs. 39:e00348.
Champagne P, Mockford S, Kirkby C (2015) Paleosuchus trigonatus (Schneider’s Smooth Fronted Caiman). Feeding behavior. Herpetological Review 46: 249.
Champagne P, Singer D (2021) Clelia clelia (Black-headed mussurana). Diet & Prey. Herpetological Review 52: 865.
Champagne P, Rosolie P, Payne C (2021) Drymarchon corais (Yellow-tailed Creebo). Diet and Ophiophagy. Herpetological Review. 52: 870-871.
Champagne PS, Payne CJ, Horton D, Singer D (2023) Diploglossus fasciatus (Banded Galliwasp). Habitat use and Escape Behavior. Herpetological Review 54 (2): 294‑295.
Champagne PS, Thomas S, Payne C, Swamy V, Roeder JM (2024) Arboreal preferences contribute to sparse records of the Banded Galliwasp, Diploglossus fasciatus (Gray, 1831), in lowland Amazon rainforests. Herpetology Notes. 17: 265-269. https://www.biotaxa.org/hn/article/view/85208/80424
Chavez G, Pradel R, Catenazzi A (2019) Integrative taxonomy reveals first country record of Hyalinobatrachium mondolfii Señaris and Ayarzagüena 2001, and distribution range extensions for Cochranella nola Harvey 1996, and Rulyrana spiculata Duellman 1976 (Anura: Centrolenidae) in Peru. Zootaxa 4691: 541‑560. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4691.5.7
Crnobrna B, Armes M (2016) Drepanoides anomalus (Amazon egg-eating snake). Diet / Ophiophagy. Herpetological Review 47 (3): 478‑478.
Turrell C, Crnobrna B, Smith-Bessen M (2016) Monitoring a population of Cruziohyla craspedopus (Funkhouser, 1957) using an artificial breeding habitat. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 10: 1-6 (e112).
Von May R, Siu-Ting K, Jacobs JM, Medina-Mueller M, Gagliardi G, Rodriguez LO, Donnelly MA (2009) Species diversity and conservation status of amphibians in Madre de Dios, southern Peru. Herpetological Conservation and Biology 4: 14-29.
Mammals
Champagne P, Crnobrna B, Kazmi M, Payne C. Lowland Interior-Forest Stream Habitat of Galictis vittata (Carnivora: Mustelidae) on the Las Piedras Tributary, Southeastern Peru. Mammalogy Notes. 2024 Nov 18;10(2):408-.
Champagne PS, Pitman RL, Lescano J, Payne CJ. An unprecedented and unprovoked attack by a free‐ranging ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) in the Peruvian Amazon. Biotropica. 2023 Jan;55(1):24-8.
Lange LR, Robson NM (2019) Demography, habitat use and activity budget of a wild group of Black-faced Black Spider Monkeys (Ateles chamek) in Las Piedras, south-eastern Peru. Neotropical Primates 25: 21-29. http://dx.doi.org/10.62015/np.2019.v25.88.
Mendoza JA, Huamani K, Sebastián G, Ochoa JA. Giant Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) distribution and population status in Madre de Dios River basin, southeastern Peru.
O’Donnell H (2020) First record of a short-eared dog scavenging on an armadillo carcass. Canid Biology & Conservation 22: 25-28. http://www.canids.org/CBC/22/Shorteared_dog_scavenging.pdf
O’Donnell H (2023) First record of Coendou ichillus (Voss & da Silva, 2001) (Rodentia, Erethizontidae) from Tambopata province in southeastern Peru. Check List 19 (6): 1049–1053. https://doi.org/10.15560/19.6.1049
Payne CJ, Champagne PS, O’Donnell H, Lange LR, Rushford C, Rosolie P, Rosenzweig D (2024) High mammalian diversity on the Las Piedras River tributary of Madre de Dios, Peru: An annotated list of species including comments on biogeography and regional conservation. Check List 20: 152-183. https://doi.org/10.15560/20.1.152.
Payne CJ, Pinasco C, Lange LR, Champagne PS, Ten Haaf J (2024) The great escape: Interspecific interaction and behavioral response to a semi-arboreal predator, the Tayra (Eira barbara), by a group of black-faced spider monkeys (Ateles chamek). Food Webs 38: e00335. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fooweb.2024.e00335
Rushford C, Glynn S (2023) Nocturnal activity and behaviour of the elusive Bushy-tailed Opossum (Glironia venusta). Journal of Tropical Ecology 39: E15. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266467423000032
Zwicker S (2015) Assessing the effects of tropical land use change: a camera trapping study of terrestrial Peruvian mammals. MSc thesis, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. 46 pp.
Zwicker S, Sanchez-Latorre C, Lukasser C (2024) Increasing detections of the margay: occupancy, density, and activity patterns in Madre de Dios, Peru. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 12:1500202.
Botany
Espinosa T, Valle D (2020) Evaluación poblacional de Dipteryx micrantha en la cuenca del río Las Piedras, Madre de Dios (Perú). Revista Forestal del Perú. 35(3):76-85.
Land Use and Conservation
Asner GP, Tupayachi R (2017) Accelerated losses of protected forests from gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon. Environmental Research Letters 12(9): 094004. https://doi.org/10.1088/17489326/aa7dab
Barrio J (2011) Hunting pressure on cracids (Cracidae: Aves) in forest concessions in Peru. Revista Peruana de Biología 18(2): 225-30.
Delgado C (2008) Is the interoceanic highway exporting deforestation? MSc dissertation, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA, 37 pp.
Quintero S, Abrahams MI, Beirne C, Blake J, Carvalho Jr E, Costa HC, de Paula MJ, Endo W, Haugaasen T, Lima MG, Michalski F (2023) Effects of human-induced habitat changes on site-use patterns in large Amazonian Forest mammals. Biological Conservation 279: 109904.
Schulte-Herbrüggen B, Rossiter H. Project Las Piedras. A socio-ecological investigation into the impact of illegal logging activity in Las Piedras, Madre de Dios, Peru. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. 2003.
Schulte-Herbrüggen B, Rossiter H (2003) Project Las Piedras: a socio-ecological investigation into the impact of illegal logging activity in Las Piedras, Madre de Dios, Peru. Report, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Scullion JJ, Vogt KA, Sienkiewicz A, Gmur SJ, Trujillo C (2011) Assessing the influence of land-cover change and conflicting land-use authorizations on ecosystem conversion on the forest frontier of Madre de Dios, Peru. Biological Conservation 171: 247-58.
Valle-Basto D, Espinosa-Quiñones, T, Limache-de-la-Fuente D. (2023). Evaluación de la deforestación (2000-2020) en concesiones forestales peruanas en la provincia de Tambopata (Madre de Dios) usando plataformas de datos abiertos. Revista Kawsaypacha: Sociedad Y Medio Ambiente (12): A-010. https://doi.org/10.18800/kawsaypacha.202302.A010
MISC.
Champagne PS (2024) Las Piedras Biodiversity Station Field Station Profile. Ecotropica 26: 202403. https://doi.org/10.30427/ecotrop202403
