Within the Cloud Forest - June 2011 Peru Photo Contest

by Kenneth Feeley
(Miami, FL USA)

Here is some information about the Tres Cruces area from Inside-Peru:

Located Northeast of Cusco, Tres Cruces (Three Crosses) lies along the winding "Camino a Manú, or "Road to Manú."

The road to Tres Cruces traces the Madre de Dios headwaters and arrives at Tres Cruces at the "Áreas de Conservación Privada Bosque Nublado" or "Private Conservation Area of Cloud Forest."

The Bosque Nublado Area, established in 2008, is in the Department of Cusco.

The Peruvian legislation that decreed this an area of conservation stated these specific goals:

• To protect the headwaters of the Kcosñipata basin.
• To protect the fragile terrain, water, and ecosystem for the benefit of those living in the lower areas.
• Maintain the balance between the biotic and abiotic factors so that native plant and animal life can live and reproduce under favorable conditions.
• Restore areas that have been adversely affected by agriculture in the past.
• Develop activities associated with education, research, evauation, monitoring, and control of the environment and natural resources.
• Promote an area to buffer encroachment on the neighboring Parque Nacional del Manu.
• Facilitate strategic areas for tourism.

Tres Cruces is a highly-interesting and exciting area for research and/or just to visit.

See full info on visiting the Cloud Forest Area and the World Heritage Manu National park.