Peru creates 3 new protected areas in Amazon

GlobalPost

Peru's government has created three new protected areas in the northern Amazon region of Loreto.

The areas — the Güeppi-Sekime National Park, the Huimeki Communal Reserve and the Airo Pai Communal Reserve — are located in Maynas province, bordering Ecuador and Colombia, reported EFE. They will cover 592,750 hectares (1.5 million acres) and will be created jointly with the two bordering countries.

More from GlobalPost: Belo Monte: Indigenous groups reoccupy dam in Brazil's Amazon rainforest

"I think this is very good news for conservation and biodiversity. Especially since Peru recently participated in the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and reported to the world the progress being made and what this convention's Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 represents," Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal said, according to EFE. 

"We hope to be able to go to that zone soon and inform the populations" who are waiting for the news, he continued.

According to Peruvian news agency Andina, the Güeppi-Sekime National Park will protect the many ecosystems and species of the Napo and Japura-Nego eco-regions; the Airo Pai Communal Reserve will preserve different biological and cultural samples, and the forest ecosystem; and the Huimeki Communal Reserve will protect biological diversity and sustainable management of resources.

Sign up for our daily newsletter

Sign up for The Top of the World, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.