Manu National Park Information

What to do Trekking Manu National Park

Manu National Park is one of the most extraordinary places on earth. It is known worldwide for its remarkable biological diversity. UNESCO has recognized it as a World Heritage of Humanity and Biosphere Reserve.

It is located in the southeastern region of Peru. Its area includes more than two million hectares of Cusco’s mountainous department and Madre de Dios’s jungle.

Its great biological diversity is due to its strategic location that extends from the Andes to the Amazon. This altitudinal range results in Puna, cloud forests, Amazonian plain forests, rivers, and cochas. In its ancient forests, you will find enormous trees that surpass 40 meters in height. Among the native animals, you can observe the Jaguar, the River Wolf, the Monkey Spider, Cock of the Rocks, the Black Caiman, the Arpía Eagle, and seven species of Macaws as beautiful butterflies, colorful frogs, unique insects, and much more.

It is one of the few areas in the world where groups of people still live traditionally in harmony with their surroundings.

BIODIVERSITY

The Manu National Park was established to protect part of the planet’s most biodiverse zone, covering areas from the mountains of the eastern Andes to the lower reaches of the western basin of the Amazon.

This region is known as a biodiversity hotspot as it contains a variety of habitats ranging from 3,800 m. to lowland forests at 200 m.s.n.m. It houses the most extraordinary natural diversity in the world. The Madre de Dios region is a great tourist attraction for those interested in nature.

The most well-known group is vertebrates, with 221 mammals (5% of the world’s total), 1,025 birds (10%), 150 amphibians, and 100 reptiles.

This fantastic biodiversity is reflected in all taxonomic groups, with more than 5,000 species of plants, equivalent to 1/6 of all the world’s flora. An astonishing 1,437 species have been recorded in only one Cocha Cashu research station area.

New species from all groups have continued to be described in recent years, and there are undoubtedly many more to discover. There are also 210 species of fish documented in the rivers and cochas of the park.

Among the invertebrates are 1,307 butterflies (15% of the world’s total), 136 dragonflies, 650 Coleoptera, and more than 300 species of ants. The park is estimated to house more than 500,000 species of living organisms, making it the most biodiverse protected area in Peru and probably the world. Its accessibility allows visitors to appreciate it in all its splendor.

POPULATION

According to their traditions, Manu local People, including native communities, Andean settlers, and Indigenous groups living in isolation

Machiguengas
The Matsiguenka (Machiguenga) is the leading group living in Manu National Park. They are established in four communities and have 700 people. Near these communities, other Matsiguenka families form small settlements with a traditional way of life. Other Matsiguenka groups live in the zone between the rivers Piñipiñi and Mameria.
Several communities, such as Santa Rosa de Huacaria, Palotoa, and Shipetiari, exist in the park’s buffer zone. The Matsiguenka live mainly by cultivating cassava, hunting, and fishing.

Other Native Groups
Other groups are found in the low parts of the Amazon, such as the Yine, who live in the Diamante community, and the Harakmbut, who live mainly in the Shintuya neighborhood near the Alto Madre de Dios River.

Also, Nahua and Yora temporarily visit areas more distant from the park, like the headwaters of the river Manu, to collect taricaya eggs and fish. The Mapacho River valley in the high Andean zone is home to Quechua-speaking communities that grow potatoes, corn, fruits, and coffee. These communities border the park, except for Callanga, which is in an old hacienda.

Discover the extreme biodiversity and see through the Manu National Park to travel agencies or tour operators.

• Offices of the Manu National Park
• Hours of operation: Monday to Friday from 9 am to 6 pm.
• Directions: Av. Cinco los Chachacomos F2-4, Larapa grande. San Jeronimo, Cusco. And Prolongación Av. Integration, neighborhood
• Vista Alegre s / n. Villa Salvation, Manu.
• E-mail: pnmanu@sernanp.gob.pe
• Phone: +51 84 274509
• Web: Official Website of the Manu National Park