Thanks to Gerald for the following post, who wanted to help highlight the good work being done by the people at the Asociación Ecológica Cerro Verde.
“A special place of natural beauty, plants and wildlife”
Cerro Verde is one of Tarapoto’s best-kept secrets, where you can enjoy the pristine natural beauty of the selva — and a place where you can reconnect with nature. If you’d like to explore a special place that is away from it all, with trails through cloud forest, with awe inspiring mountain vistas, waterfalls, streams and an abundance of birds and wildlife, yet all close to Tarapoto, then this is the place for you.
What Is the Asociación Ecológica Cerro Verde?
The Cerro Verde Ecological Reserve is within the Regional Conservation Area Cordillera Escalera, an area of protected cloud forest, plants and wildlife that covers 149,870 hectares. The Cerro Verde Reserve covers an area of about 2,000 hectares and, since 2010, has been managed by the Asociación Ecología de Cerro Verde.
This group of local volunteers is a non-profit organisation that was set up in order to prevent the unauthorised cutting down of trees and hunting that was destroying habitats, plants and wildlife.
Since then, the Association has been very successful in planting more than 2,000 trees and managing the forest to help bring back plants and wildlife.
The creation of new trails now allows the public to get close to nature and fully experience the rainforest. There are also fantastic mountain views, cascades and an abundance of plants and wildlife.
More About the Volunteers and How to Get Involved
The Association is lucky to have as a founding member, el señor Crusillo Juasabi Tuanama, who is 79 years of age and has a wealth of knowledge in medicinal plants, wildlife, plants and trees.
The Asociación Ecología Cerro Verde welcomes all volunteers who wish to learn and share their skills, experience and knowledge. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact richer.fasabi@gmail.com who will be very glad to help and give you more information. Also, please visit the Asociación Ecología Cerro Verde Facebook Page and watch this inspiring video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euPGZk3BJUc.
Richer and his colleague Javier are long standing volunteers of the Association and both are experienced guides for visitors to the Asociación Ecología Cerro Verde .
How to Get There
From Tarapoto, take a collective taxi for about 3 soles, from carretera Marginal Sur, cuadra 7 Banda de Shilcayo, and head out on the road to Yurimaguas. At about 18 kilometres, just beyond the Ahuashiyacu Waterfall, get dropped off at the entrance to the Centro de Biodiversidad.
Señor Crusillo Juasabi Tuanama
Thanks Gerald! I’ll try to visit the reserve as soon as possible. It sounds like a great place to go exploring.