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November 7, 2019
The 1st Festival of the Fresh Water Turtles of the Peruvian Amazon aims to position the Loreto region as one of the main ecotourism destinations. In addition, the repopulation of Taricayas allows to guarantee the conservation of the species, to sensitize the population and to diversify the tourist activity of the area.
The AJE Group with the Disctrics of Maynas, Punchana and Belén, as well as the communities of San José de Lupuna (Nanay River), Puerto Alegría (Itaya River) and El Porvenir (Momón River) are holding this festival with the participation and support of state institutions such as: MINAM, SERNANP, GERFOR, SERFOR, IIAP, MINCETUR and DIRCETURA.
This festival seeks the repopulation, for conservation purposes, of young Podocnemis unifilis “taricaya” in natural environments in three districts of the province of Maynas in the department of Loreto. It is estimated that during the festival around 5,500 turtles will be released into their natural environment.
In total, 205 clutches were made during the project, which is equivalent to 6,970 eggs. The AJE Group participated with 120 clutches, or 4,080 eggs, which represents approximately 60% of the total number of eggs.
On November 8, the release took place at Tipishca Beach in San José de Lupuna (Nanay River).
The artificial beaches were located at:
Artificial Beach Maynas 1, Plaza Bolognesi: 70 nests = 2,380 eggs
Maynas 2 artificial beach, Plaza Bolognesi: 30 nests = 1,020 eggs
Punchana artificial beach, Miguel Grau Square: 30 nests = 1,020 eggs
Belen artificial beach, Cardama Square: 30 nests = 1,020 eggs
Explorama Tours artificial beach, Lower Amazon River: 10 nests = 340 eggs
Avatar artificial beach, Lower Amazon River: 5 nests = 170 eggs
Playa artificial Garden Lodge, Río Momón: 5 nests = 170 eggs
Amazon Camp artificial beach, Momon River: 5 nests = 170 eggs
Irapay artificial beach, Momon River: 5 nests = 170 eggs
Artificial R&F beach, Nanay River: 5 nests = 170 eggs
Heliconia artificial beach, Amazon River: 5 nests = 170 eggs
Artificial Beach Tourist Business Cashew, Cashew River: 5 nests = 170 eggs
The eggs of this species come from the areas under the management of the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, to be incubated in semi-natural beaches in the province of Maynas. They have been moved and incubated on sandbanks located in the main squares of the metropolitan city of Iquitos.
In 1979 the recovery program of the taricaya turtle in the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve was initiated for scientific purposes. Thanks to the success of this activity, the local population was incorporated for the development of this conservation initiative. In 2013 the first contracts for the exploitation of taricayas were signed, and by 2019 there are 42 of these. By 2019, this effort will have succeeded in releasing around 646,000 taricaya hatchlings into the wild.