Chaskawasi-Manu, Peru . . Home To The Stars

Five weeks and four days before the end of the year, I have to cycle towards my parent's home in Worcestershire and will finish the two year Biking Birder adventure at Upton Warren (Worcestershire Wildlife Trust) nature reserve on December 31^st.

That said I want to spend the final days emphasising why I support the charities that so many of you have kindly donated to. It really is a massive boost tome when someone donates or sponsors me. Thank you so much everyone.

Chaskawasi-Manu, literally means 'The Home of The Stars.'

Deep in the Manu National Park in Peru there is a village called Salvacion. You won't find it on google maps. Well I can. I know where it is!

Located north east of the High Andean city of Cusco, along the perilous Manu Road one comes to a number of towns before crossing two large rivers and reaching Salvacion.

The orange roofed buildings in the centre is Chaskawasi-Manu

On the western edge of the village is the Chaskawasi-Manu home; a place where children from much deeper in The Manu rainforest can come and stay.

http://www.chaskawasi-manu.org/en/  

The website details the Chaskawasi-Manu Project:-

Chaskawasi Manu already has a history of years in the service of the people of Manu in general, and the most remote and disadvantaged children in particular, promoting children’s basic rights such as access to education and health and respect for the environment and biodiversity by using resources from sustainability.

Currently at Chaskawasi Manu live 20 children and adolescents from different Amazonian native and peasant communities, some of which are more than 5 day’s travel by boat on the Madre de Dios River. Their native languages are Quechua and Machiguenga although all speak Spanish.

They are between 9 and 17 years of age and they all come from situations of social exclusion and extreme poverty. Chaskawasi Manu provides these children with shelter, food and access to education and health.

But most of all lots of love and acceptance for all children and families with whom we share our daily lives.

Meet some of the children.

The Manu. An area of over 17,000 square kilometres is protected but under threat from the outside interests of loggers, oil companies and various mineral concerns.

As Wikipedia states :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%C3%BA_National_Park

Manú National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional del Manu) is a biosphere reserve located in the Madre de Dios and Paucartambo, Cusco. Before becoming an area protected by the Peruvian government, the Manú National Park was conserved thanks to its inaccessibility. The park remains fairly inaccessible by road to this day. (I will definitely vouch for that!)

In 1977, UNESCO recognised it as a Biosphere Reserve and in 1987, it was pronounced a World Heritage Site. It is the largest National Park in Peru, covering an area of 15,328km². The Biosphere Reserve includes an additional 2,570km², and a further 914km² are included in a "Cultural Zone" (which also is afforded a level of protection), bringing the total area up to 18,811km².

The park protects several ecological zones ranging from as low as 150 meters above sea level in parts of the South west Amazon moist forests to Peruvian Yungas at middle elevations to Central Andean wet puna at altitudes of 4200 meters. Because of this topographical range, it has one of highest levels of biodiversity of any park in the world. Overall, more than 15,000 species of plants are found in Manú, and up to 250 varieties of trees have been found in a single hectare. The reserve is a destination for birdwatchers from all over the world, as it is home to over 1000 species of birds, more than the number of bird species found in the United States and Canada combined and almost 10% of the world's total bird species. It is also acclaimed as having one of the highest abundances of land vertebrates ever found in Latin American tropical forests.

A vital area that desperately needs the continuance of the protection measures already in place but are being eroded daily.

I believe that the children are vital part of the forest's future. Their education will give indigenous peoples a voice in the years to come. Meeting the children it is inspiring to see their love for the forest, their communities and their way of life.

Hence I am asking you to please give a donation to the project. I will be back there in April next year, a moment I can't wait for. If you do make a donation then please say so on here as a comment or go to my facebook page :

https://www.facebook.com/gary.prescott.92

or

https://www.facebook.com/bikingbirder2015/

and either comment or message me. I don't get to see donations to Chaskawasi-Manu and I would be thrilled to hear from anyone supporting this fabulous project. Thanks.

Donations link . . . 

http://www.chaskawasi-manu.org/en/donation-for-chaskawasi-manu-project/  

or click on the Chaskawasi-Manu link at the top ofthe page on the right hand side.

Let's finish with a few photographs from the last time I was there:-

And some of the birds. . . . 

and some of the other special wildlife. . .

Thank you. xx