Cordillera Azul National Park, Protected rainforest area in Loreto, San Martín, Huánuco, and Ucayali regions, Peru.
Cordillera Azul National Park is a protected rainforest area spanning Loreto, San Martín, Huánuco, and Ucayali regions with highly varied landscapes. The terrain ranges from lowland forests to mountain ridges, containing rivers, valleys, and highland zones that support distinct wildlife communities at different elevations.
The Biavo-Cordillera Azul National Forest was created in 1963 over 2,178,000 hectares. In 1997 the area was declared a timber production forest, opening it to logging. After research by Red Ambiental Peruana and COPRI, the Cordillera Azul Reserved Zone was set up in 2000 and a Field Museum team assessed its biodiversity; the national park followed in 2001 under President Valentín Paniagua.
Since August 2008 the park has been run under a twenty-year operations contract by CIMA-Cordillera Azul, which keeps permanent field offices in Tarapoto, Tocache, Aguaytía and Contamana. Its staff work with 50 of the 225 communities in the buffer zone, alongside four regional, eight provincial and thirteen district governments.
The park is best visited between May and October when conditions are drier and access to trails is easier. Hiring a local guide is essential for safely navigating the different forest zones and observing wildlife across the varied terrain.
The Cordillera Azul antbird, a bird of the forest understory, is named after this range. The park's northern end holds the Pongo de Aguirre, where the Huallaga river cuts a water gap through the mountains east of Chazuta.
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