Ongoing Projects

The Wilderness Center at Baltimori

The center of Baltimori lies in the rural community of the same name along the banks of the incredibly biodiverse Tambopata River some five hours upriver of Puerto Maldonado by motorized canoe.  Because of its remote location and close proximity to the extensive Tambopata Candamo Reserve, the area is remarkably intact and is still home to healthy animal populations and relatively untouched forests.  In this landscape, the area needed for human use is minimized as much as possible, two hectares (roughly five acres) or so already planted as “food forests” to provide for the consumption of a permanent caretaker from the region now living on the land, as well as any visitors.  Thirty species of fruit trees have already been planted.  In addition, more extensive areas of secondary forest left from a previous owner’s farming activities are being reforested with endangered and over-exploited native hardwood species such as mahogany and cedar.  In the year-and-a-half since the land was acquired, some three hundred trees have already been planted or transplanted; this center is already rapidly becoming a living seed bank.  This is also the place where we are experimenting with economically viable forms of reforestation and truly sustainable forest management (silviculture) as well as more pure forms of conservation.  At this center a comfortable but rustic typical jungle house has already been built thanks to the generosity of some of our founding board members.  Four to six people can be housed easily.