The Wildlife Conservation Society’s mission to save wild places focuses not only on the traditional protected parks, but on the entire landscape. This approach hopes to understand the interactions between the spaces where biodiversity and cultural diversity are highest, where land is used in varying manners creating a mosaic of people and nature. An understanding of these interactions helps conservation and community planners conserve the wildlife and ecosystems that are under threat today by taking into account the complex processes that affect them.
The two landscapes where WCS works within Peru are Marañón-Ucayali in the North, and Madidi-Tambopata in the South. Both of these landscapes are part of the Peruvian Amazon and are representative of the high species richness and high cultural diversity. By partnering with these populations as well as local NGOs, and regional and national governments,we use science to inform policies, management, and livelihoods initiatives that help create a conservation constituency that values the ecological, economic, recreational, and cultural benefits nature provides us.