Peru

Peru faces a range of challenges that threaten both its natural and cultural environments. In particular, Tambopata Province in the Madre de Dios region—our primary focus in South America—is renowned for its exceptional biodiversity and cultural richness. However, both are increasingly at risk. 

Historically, this area of the Peruvian Amazon has undergone significant landscape transformation due to unsustainable and often illegal activities such as agricultural expansion, logging, and mining. Despite these pressures, Tambopata remains home to several Indigenous ethnic groups and vast, largely undisturbed forests that support some of the highest levels of terrestrial species diversity and endemism in the world. 

Currently hosted by the International Potato Center, our South America Hub is based in Tambopata. From there, we work to reverse environmental degradation and promote a balance between conservation and community needs. Our goal is to develop new models of land use and resource management that provide viable alternatives—helping to shift the region toward a more sustainable development path where both nature and people can thrive.