- Peru’s government has established the Medio Putumayo Algodón Regional Conservation Area in the Loreto region of the Amazon Rainforest.
- This new protected area holds 53% of Peru’s carbon stock, which will be conserved by preventing deforestation in the region.
- The regional conservation area covers more than 283,000 hectares of primary rainforest along the Putumayo River, which links Peru and Colombia.
- The area will benefit 16 Indigenous communities, including the Murui (Huitoto), Yagua, Ocaina, Kukama Kukamiria, Kichwa, Maijuna and Bora peoples.
A new regional conservation area has been created in Loreto, the largest region in Peru’s Amazon. The Medio Putumayo Algodón Regional Conservation Area is the fourth protected natural area in the Putumayo region, an area connected by the Putumayo River, which flows into Colombia.
The Ministry of the Environment established the area on June 6 by Supreme Decree to conserve 283,595 hectares (about 700,778 acres) across the districts of Pebas, Putumayo and Yaguas. Pebas is in Mariscal Ramón Castilla province, while Putumayo and Yaguas are in Putumayo province. The area contains seven different ecosystems with primary forests.
Protecting this area will contribute to maintaining 53% of Loreto’s annual carbon stock. Forests are among the world’s most dynamic carbon reservoirs, as deforestation and land use changes release carbon dioxide, driving global warming.
The region is the largest in Peru, covering 6,9 million hectares (17 million acres), which represents 28% of the country’s territory and 51% of the Peruvian Amazon. It is also home to the largest Indigenous population, with around 100,000 people from 27 different communities.
Additionally, more than 5,000 people living in 16 Indigenous communities around the new regional conservation area, which the regional government of Loreto will manage, will benefit. These communities belong to the Murui (Huitoto), Yagua, Ocaina, Kukama Kukamiria, Kichwa, Maijuna and Bora peoples of the northern Peruvian Amazon.
Biological corridor
The new regional conservation area will be part of a larger biological corridor called the Putumayo Amazon Indigenous Landscape, which covers the border area between Peru and Colombia. This region includes seven protected areas, the regional conservation areas of Maijuna-Kichwa, Ampiyacu-Apayacu, the recently established Medio Putumayo Algodón and the proposed Ere-Campuya, which is currently in the process of being created. Regional governments manage the regional conservation areas.
Within the corridor is Yaguas National Park, which is managed by the national government through SERNANP, the Peruvian agency for protected areas. There are also proposals for the Bajo Putumayo Communal Reserve, co-managed by SERNANP and Indigenous communities, and the Pupuña Indigenous Reserve, an area dedicated to protecting Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact, which the Ministry of Culture will oversee. Unlike the other areas, the Pupuña Indigenous Reserve prioritizes strict protection so Indigenous peoples can live without pressure or threats.
These seven adjoining areas together cover 3.3 million hectares (8.2 million acres) in Loreto and are home to around 94 Indigenous communities, which occupy a combined 799,492 hectares (2 million acres), bringing the total to 4.1 million hectares (10.2 million acres).
“As part of this continuous landscape, the goal is to ensure ecological connectivity and to avoid leaving state-owned lands freely available, as these are more vulnerable to land traffickers,” states a report by the Instituto del Bien Común (Institute for the Common Good – IBC) on the Putumayo Amazon Indigenous Landscape. The report also highlights that permanent production forests and forestry concessions, which are highly susceptible to deforestation and illegal resource extraction, will be avoided.
Luis Espinel, executive director and vice president of Conservation International Peru, emphasizes that connecting protected areas provides more habitat for species such as jaguars, ensures cleaner water and strengthens the ecosystem services that support the eight Indigenous communities that depend on the Amazon.
The area is also of special importance for maintaining the continuity of the Putumayo cultural and biological corridor, connecting Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. The creation of the Medio Putumayo Algodón Regional Conservation Area will help ensure the conservation of primary forests for the next 20 years.
“This area is being driven by the Indigenous communities of the Medio Putumayo themselves, through three federations. The biological corridor is also an initiative led by the region’s Indigenous communities,” says Freddy Ferreyra, a specialist at the IBC.
Rich biodiversity
A biological study of the Medio Putumayo Algodón Regional Conservation Area found that the area is home to more than 300 plant, 448 bird, 232 fish, 101 amphibian, 70 mammal, 53 reptile and 11 primate species.
Among the hundreds of animal species found here are the jaguar (Panthera onca), giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) and the yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Lagothrix flavicauda), all of which are threatened according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
“These species are at risk due to habitat invasion, hunting, wildlife trafficking and deforestation, which are ongoing threats in the Amazon. The creation of this area is an opportunity to protect these species and their ecosystems,” Ferreyra says.
After its establishment, the government assigned management of the new regional conservation area to the regional government of Loreto. The local authority has nine months to approve the master plan, which will outline the protected area’s management for the next 10 years.
Indigenous protection
Since 2015, six Indigenous federations have advocated for the creation of the Medio Putumayo Algodón Regional Conservation Area to ensure the protection of forests and to allow their sustainable use without deforestation. This process took 10 years and there were obstacles along the way.
In April 2025, the National Forestry and Wildlife Service (SERFOR) repealed a regulation that permitted the creation of conservation areas, even if they overlapped with fragile ecosystems. The federations issued a statement rejecting this decision and reaffirming their support for the creation of the regional conservation area.
According to the Supreme Decree establishing the regional conservation area, its 283,595 hectares were excluded from the Low Hill Forests Fragile Ecosystem – Eré Putumayo Cotuhé, thus allowing the creation of the protected natural area.
“We hope this regional conservation area brings benefits to our communities. That way, we can also take care of our forest, monitor it so that outsiders don’t enter our territory and prevent the extraction of timber and gold, which greatly harms us,” says Gervinson Perdomo Chavez, former leader of the Indigenous community of Puerto Franco, which borders the new protected area in Peru.
Banner image: The administrative process to create the Medio Putumayo Algodón Regional Conservation Area took 10 years. Image courtesy of Diego Pérez (SPDA).
This article was first published here in Spanish on June 20, 2025.
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