Arbio
protecting some of the largest and oldest trees in the amazon rainforest
One of the Amazon’s most important species is at risk of extinction within five years.
Enigma is partnering with ARBIO, a Peruvian non-profit established in 2010 in the area of Madre de Dios with the main objective of protecting the Amazon rainforest. ARBIO manages and takes care of 916 hectares of Amazon forest (2,264 acres) in the Las Piedras River basin of the Madre de Dios region. ARBIO stands for Association for the Forest’s Resilience against the Interoceanic (Highway) or “Asociación para la Resiliencia del Bosque frente a la Interoceánica”.
ARBIO’s purpose is to implement forest conservation actions involving both the civil and private sectors.
The organization is led by three Peruvian women and sisters:
Tatiana, Rocio and Gianella Espinosa.
THE RELEVANCE OF THE SHIHUAHUACO
In protecting the Amazon rainforest, ARBIO has identified the key role of protecting the SHIHUAHUACO.
ARBIO’s land concession has a total of 300 censed trees belonging to 78 different species.
Of these, there are four which are the most threatened: Shihuahuaco, Quinilla, Manchinga and Catahua.
The SHIHUAHUACO is the most threatened of all due to the high demand for its wood for parquet floors. The main markets are China, USA, Mexico and Lima. In ARBIO’s study of the shihuahuaco’s life cycle, it has found that the industry is cutting down trees that are between 300 and 1500 years old. To reach the minimum diameter from cutting this tree takes more than 300 years, and in the ARBIO forest, 15% of the shihuahuacos are more than 1,000 years old.
These trees are the pillars of the forest, and the balance of the ecosystem depends on them. They are a carbon accumulator par excellence; a large shihuahuaco tree can contain up to 40 Tons of Carbon (the other species are between 5-15 Tons).The shihuahuaco also has an enormous ecological role, with several key species, some in danger of extinction like the harpy eagle, nesting in them.
ARBIO has already scientifically proven that the shihuahuaco’s current timber extraction is UNSUSTAINABLE. If it continues as is, the species will be extinct in 5-10 years.
