Manu National Park is a remote and protected nature reserve in Peru, recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It covers 5,918 square miles and is home to tens of thousands of plant species and thousands of animal, bird, and insect species. Access is limited to research groups and accredited cultural programs, and the park contains a cultural center and a permanent research station. The park’s varied terrain includes high-elevation grasslands, tropical forests, and rainforests, which support an enormous diversity of plant and animal life. The park’s flora is estimated to include over 25,000 flowering plants, and its wildlife includes the giant river otter, jaguar, capybara, monkeys, butterflies, birds, and venomous snakes.
Manu National Park is a nature reserve and biosphere in the Amazon region of Peru. Recognized as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Manu National Park is an extremely remote place with carefully limited access to humans. Among the treasures of Manu Park are several distinct ecological spheres, tens of thousands of plant species and thousands of animal, bird and insect species.
Located in southwestern Peru, Manu Park borders the neighboring regions of Madre de Dios and Cuzco. Nearly inaccessible to most humans, the park thrived as an almost untouched wilderness for thousands of years before becoming a protected reserve in 1977. The site was later designated a World Heritage Site in the 1980s, further solidifying its protection from development or invasion. Now the largest nature reserve in Peru, Manu National Park covers approximately 5,918 square miles (15,328 square km).
The park’s remote location makes access difficult, often involving multiple small plane and boat transfers. Additionally, visitor access is largely restricted, mostly reserved for a few research groups and tours through accredited cultural programs. The park’s permanent residents include a few small indigenous groups, mostly from the Amazonian Matsiganga tribes. The park also contains a cultural center with some housing and Cocha Cashu Station, a permanent research station funded by Duke University.
One of the main features of Manu Park is the Manu River watershed, which passes through several distinct patches of land before bottoming out in the Madre de Dios River. Along its course, the river passes through high-elevation grasslands known as puna, tropical forests called yunga, and traditional rainforests. Protecting all of these areas within a single park allows researchers to better understand the biology of watersheds and the movements between one area and another. The park’s highly varied terrain also gives rise to an enormous diversity of plant and animal life.
The flora of the Manu National Park is among the most diverse in the world, with over 25,000 flowering plants estimated in the region. A boundless land of discovery, Manu Park is bound to delight biologists for generations, as less than 20% of all plant species in the park are believed to be formally described at the turn of the 21st century. Many of the research projects permitted in the park involve the survey, recording and conservation of the diverse flora.
With such a generous variety of plants to feed and shelter, the wildlife in the park is just as diverse. Large mammal species include the giant river otter, which can reach up to 6m in length, the elusive jaguar, the capybara and more than a dozen species of monkeys. Scientists estimate that the park is home to somewhere between 1.8-1000 butterfly species and a similar number of bird varieties. Manu National Park, however, is not without its dangers, including stingrays, scorpions and a wide variety of venomous snakes.
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