Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 April 2009
The Tambopata Reserve Zone covers 55 sq km of tropical rain forest bordering the Tambopata River, a tributary of the upper Amazon. Set up by the Peruvian Government in 1977 to conserve an unusually diverse wildlife community, the reserve has already established a variety of world records for species numbers in vertebrate and invertebrate groups. It also protects a number of threatened species. The fact that the reserve exists at all is largely due to the implementation of a policy that has successfully integrated its conservation objectives with its commercial interests and applied science activities. The author, who worked as a naturalist guide and biologist on the reserve in 1984,1985 and 1986, discusses the importance of this enterprise.