Alto Mayo Protection Forest

The Alto Mayo Protection Forest is an area of protected forestland in northern Peru. It is located in the San Martín region of northern Peru and spans 182,000 ha (450,000 acres).

The forest reserve protects part of the Peruvian Yungas ecoregion in the upper Mayo River basin while protecting soil and water from erosion by deforestation. The area is the water supply for populations in the Mayo valley.

This mountainous area is located in the eastern part of the Peruvian Andes, featuring slope grades greater than 70% in some parts. The area and surroundings are part of the Mayo River upper watershed, and eleven of the river's main tributaries originate within the Alto Mayo Protected Forest.

Despite ​its protected status, the forest has had some of the country's highest deforestation rates. Contributing factors included a lack of enforcement of the protected area, a national highway built through the forest, an influx of people settling in the region, and unsustainable farming practices. As a result of depleted soil, farmers cut down more trees to maintain production levels.

To help halt this cycle, Conservation International began working with partners, including local communities, corporations, and Peru's government in order to protect the Alto Mayo forest.

The main threats to this protected area are the illegal settlement of farmers inside the forest who clear the land for agriculture, extraction of wild orchids and animals for sale, timber extraction, and unsustainable fishing practices.

Some mammals reported in the area are the yellow-tailed woolly monkey, the spectacled bear, the cougar, the Peruvian night monkey, the Rio Mayo titi, and the giant armadillo.

Birds reported in the protection forest include the Andean cock-of-the-rock, the oilbird, the king vulture, the equatorial grey tail, the long-whiskered owlet, the swallow-tailed kite, the razor-billed curassow, the Andean guan, the speckled chachalaca, the blue-grey tanager, the white-throated toucan, etc.

Among the plant species found in the Alto Mayo Protection Forest are trees such as:

• cedro (Cedrela odorata)
• requia (Guarea trichilioides)
• rifari (Miconia longifolia)
• ojé (Ficus insipida)
• cetico (Cecropia sp.)
• uvilla (Pourouma cecropiifolia)
• tornillo (Cedrelinga cateniformis)
• cascarilla (Cinchona pubescens)
• palo seco (Alseis peruviana)
• huamansamana (Dipteryx alata)
• amasisa (Erythrina fusca)
• quinilla (Manilkara bidentata)
• marupa (Simarouba amara)
• yurac ciprana (Guatteria hyposericea)
• zapote (Quararibea cordata)
• guayacán (Tabebuia ochracea)
• catahua (Hura crepitans)
• mashonaste (Clarisia racemosa)
• moena negra (Ocotea sp.)

Orchids found here include Phragmipedium boisserianum, Masdevallia vargasii, etc.