It Began as a Simple Conversation

In 2021, three people shared a dream.

Sam (Swiss-Peruvian), Cindy (Peruvian), and I (Canadian) wanted to launch a conservation project together. We spent weeks traveling through the cloud forests of the Peruvian Amazon searching for a place where conservation could truly make a difference.

When we arrived in the valley between the Cordillera Escalera mountain ranges, we knew this was the place. And we knew what needed to be done. We needed to create a wildlife corridor. A corridor that would restore safe passage for animals and reconnect a landscape that had been fragmented for far too long.

I searched for a photo that captured the moment this all began but there weren’t any. We were focused on the work! This one will have to do.

While I focused on fundraising, Sam and Cindy worked to establish Amazon Rainforest Conservancy Northern Peru (ARCNP) – a new Peruvian non-profit sister organization to ARC.

By 2022, we were ready to act. And act we did.

Today, I am incredibly proud to share that since this project’s inception, we have purchased 14 former cattle farms, protecting 226.5 hectares (600 acres) of rainforest. That’s roughly the size of 370 football fields. Combined with our work in the Lower Amazon Basin, ARC now protects more than 850 + hectares of the Amazon rainforest.

We know we are making a difference.

Our camera traps continue to capture images of wildlife – including endangered species. It’s so exciting to see them moving safely through the lands we now protect. The tracks crisscrossing these forests tell a powerful story. Animals are reclaiming their home.

What began as a shared dream is becoming a living, breathing wildlife corridor.