While I was fortunate to be immersed in the sights and sounds of one of the most beautiful natural habitats on the planet, I couldn't help but note many many tragedies afoot. The local people here cannot eat from the river, on which blobs of bright orange pollution float, because of the unsafe mercury levels. Mercury is pumped into the Madre Del Dios by the opportunistic gold miners laboring along the river side.
The marvels of our first morning wander down the river were tempered by the thick smoke of a burning rainforest and the sound of chainsaws sealing the deal. While I fight to bite my tongue in responding to something I can't possibly understand fully, my visceral reaction was (and is) unstoppable. The deforestation here is jaw-dropping. The pollution is horrid. The way they treat their animals angers me, as I understand through past studies just how close so many of these species are to extinction.
Our guide told us stories of how they hunt the primates here (not to mention numerous other species). He continued with morbid details of how they must retrieve their kill. Because most primates here have prehensile tails, they cling to branches even after death. To collect them, hunters often take to cutting down the trees on which they cling. This is horrid tale is one of the saddest I've heard in a while.
Forgive my drama, I feel quite strongly about these things. A visit to the local zoo at the very end of our trip would have had me in tears if I hadn't been in total shock. Most of the animals seen in this entry live meters from their natural habitat in meager cages abutting a noisy cement block building operation. I wanted to free them. Since I can't, I have promised myself to write a book about them.
I hesitated on this trip (and still do) to jump to any conclusions about the implications of human activity on this natural, and rapidly dwindling, habitat. All I can say is the human footprint is stomping out much of what seems so vital to the preservation and continued existence of this rainforest. Seeing the difference between this place and the forests I saw in Costa Rica, this novice can see clearly the world of difference effective conservation makes. I hope (and feel compelled to help) Peru reverse this fast track to total annihilation of one of the most important resources on our planet.
Okay my rant is through.
Yes, that is a rope tightly tied to his hind legs.
Wild cotton grows all over this area. I cant help but wonder if cultivating wild cotton might be part of an effective conservation solution, providing an alternative means of income to locals who might otherwise pursue activities deleterious to the land.
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Near the entrance of the Tambopata reserve, a German-based NGO has set up a little display about conservation of the rainforest. It is quite lovely and informative. I found one display board particularly beautiful. The following "letter," posted in both Spanish and English, is intended to remind visitors how nature should be appreciated.
From the post:
Dear Friend,
Pardon my confidence in speaking to you as a friend, but from the moment that you were born, you became part of my Being and I consider you as such.
Maybe you have never heard me speaking to you. The truth is, I have spent a lot of time speaking to people about how little they take care of me, that sometimes I think I do not have a voice, or only some have heard me.
Today, my heart is happy for your visit. Not only do I want you to see my, but I also want to share my secrets and reveal all the beauty and goodness that I have in myself. I understand that sometimes you can be enchanted with something that I have, but even so, I ask you not to take it. If you do that, it is as if you are killing me bit by bit and the truth is, this makes me suffer more than you can imagine.
Like you, the animals, the plants, the space, and even the air you breathe form a part of me. I offer you this with all my humility, so that they also form a part of your life experience. Respect them, as you respect yourself. Enjoy them, as one enjoys being alive. Embrace them, as one embraces loved ones. Love them, as one loves oneself.
I only want to thank you for forming part of my life and hopefully, at the end of your visit, you will be satisfied for having discovered a little more of the beauty that life offers us everyday.
With affection and offering you all of myself,
MOTHER NATURE
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