Tambopata National Reserve, Protected rainforest reserve in Madre de Dios, Peru

Tambopata National Reserve is a protected rainforest area in Madre de Dios Department, southeastern Peru, spanning forested hills, swamps, oxbow lakes and meandering rivers. Its elevation ranges from 200 to 400 metres above sea level. The Tambopata, Malinowski and Heath rivers cross it, and Lake Sandoval, ringed by Mauritia palms, lies about 30 minutes from Puerto Maldonado.

The Peruvian government created the reserve in September 2000 to preserve the tropical rainforest and enable sustainable use by neighboring communities. The decision followed years of efforts by local and international organizations to secure the biodiversity of this region.

The Ese Ejja and Pukirieri peoples live in the buffer zone around the reserve, not inside it. Visitors can watch macaws and parrots gather at the Chuncho and Colorado clay licks on the Tambopata river between 5:30 and 9:00 a.m. Brazil nuts from the reserve's castañales are harvested under management plans approved and controlled by SERNANP.

Access is by boat from Puerto Maldonado, the city bordering the reserve. Lake Sandoval, the most visited spot, lies 30 minutes from the city, and a fully wooden walkway there aids visitors with disabilities. The Chuncho and Colorado clay licks on the Tambopata riverbank are watched between 5:30 and 9:00 a.m.

The Chuncho Clay Lick is a riverbank section where hundreds of macaws and parrots gather at dawn and dusk to eat mineral-rich clay. This natural meeting point forms through river erosion and helps birds neutralize toxins from their diet.