Trip across the ANPs (Protected Natural Areas) of the North of Cajamarca

The ANPs are protected areas of SINANPE (National System of Natural Areas Protected by the State), under the responsibility of SERNANP (the National Service of Natural Protected Areas).

SERNANP on its website defines the meaning of Protected Natural Areas, according to Peruvian Law 26834:

Are continental and/or marine spaces of the national territory recognized, established and legally protected by the State as such, due to their importance for the conservation of biological diversity and other associated values of cultural, scenic and scientific interest, as well as for their contribution to the sustainable development of the country. (Congress of the Republic of Peru, 1997).

In this opportunity, we the students of the last semester of the Professional Academic School of Environmental Engineering of the Faculty of Agrarian Sciences of the National University of Cajamarca, ventured to make a journey to the Protected Forest of Pagaibamba and to the National Sanctuary Tabaconas Namballe.

The route began on October 31, 2017, at 4:00 p.m. from the Parade Ground of Celendin towards the province of Chota, our first destination for dinner and "overnight" and then leave the second day very early towards the district of Huambos for the respective breakfast. The trip to Querocoto, also belonging to Chota, was restarted, where we stopped to receive the park rangers from the Pagaibamba Protected Forest, who provided us with informative material about the place. Then we left for the rural community of Pachacutec where part of the BPP is located.

We arrived at the place, set up the tents, a short break and started the trek for a small bird watching route, always with the advice of our teacher, Eng. Manuel Roncal Rabanal, in regards to birds. On the way, we see beautiful orchids and rare flowers.

A regrettable fact told us by the park rangers about residents who adjoin the park and used to burn, to "improve agricultural soil," an uncontrolled fire caused a forest fire for several days, which significantly reduced important areas. And indeed part of the burned forest could be appreciated.

Before nightfall, we returned to the tents to sleep. The next day, we headed back towards Querocoto to start our journey to Jaen. Passing again through Huambos, we follow the route, with a short break in Cochabamba, at the junction of diversion towards Cutervo and Chiclayo, for a small bird watching; We were lucky to appreciate several species of birds in a single tree.

We continued without stopping, regretting not enjoying the National Park of Cutervo, another ANP that for reasons of time we couldn’t visit. We arrived in Jaen, very excited to be close to Tabaconas, however, the journey was much longer than we had imagined, it was so giving around 10 at night, then almost 500 km (311 miles) away and 12 hours of travel from Celendin, we had finally reached the district of Tabaconas, where the park rangers waited for us, who politely gave us lodging. To sleep soon then, because the next day at dawn we would have to start our walk.

We woke up and prepared to start, carrying only what was necessary, the food previously prepared by our kind hostesses of a small village restaurant, and of course lots of water. The vans saved us a small stretch, and from there we said Every go!

Who would say that this would be the beginning of a truly unforgettable walk?

The Tabaconas Namballe National Sanctuary is located in the central mountain range of the Andes, within the districts of Tabaconas and Namballe, both belonging to the province of San Ignacio, department of Cajamarca; with an approximate extension of 32 124,87 hectares, where they are Mountain Forests and Paramos, with an altitudinal range of between 1800 and 3600 mamsl.

From the first steps we were already sensing that it was going to be a long way, the initial stretch started on the road, to enter a signposted path of a slight slope where a flock of parrots welcomed us.

Crossing the Tabaconas river bridges and appreciating the beautiful vegetation, some orchids and exotic insects, we came to an informative sign of the SERNANP that gave us to know about the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) and the mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque), both threatened species; The spectacled bear is in a vulnerable state and the mountain tapir is endangered according to the IUCN.

The sign also illustrated the delimitation of the sanctuary and warned us that only 400 m were missing to get to the biological station Chichilapa.

More and more we saw how the vegetation changed, ferns growing larger as we moved, until it seemed we were in some prehistoric jungle.

We arrived at the station and took a break, unloaded some weight from our backpacks, a small snack and back into the trek.

Well, that was nothing because the real trekking was coming. The small Evelio, our guide, led the caravan, we started climbing a path, but this time of regular slope and as we went through a magical portal we entered the cloud forest, it didn’t take long and Evelio already showed us the footprints of a young tapir.

We crossed a river, probably the same river Tabaconas and then from here the path became a climbing path because everything was uphill. We can’t fail to mention the various gadflies who didn’t hesitate to come and say hello everytime they could. We also knew the pine of the Jalca, the Podocarpus oleofolius. We continue to a viewpoint that indicated that we were already at 2865 mamsl, and from here we could appreciate the rich mountains of the sanctuary. To continue climbing, we say, because we had already traveled 5 long hours and it was not long. Fortunately and just in time, we found two natural sources of water to recharge our containers.

The last section had many obstacles, fallen trunks, thick branches, slippery mosses; here we had to take our last strength: jump, go under, climb, give stilts, and once finished the Crossfit, we spotted a lagoon, it was one of several so-called Arrebiatadas lagoons, there was only half an hour to get to see them close up.

From the highest you could see the last mountains of Peru since on the other side is Ecuador.

Going down the mountain, we were already in the Paramo at 3600 mamsl, and we already felt the strong wind. The vegetation here was very different, large grasslands, reeds, and small plants grew in a humid and water-saturated environment.

To get to the camp we had to skirt the lagoon, but very carefully, because the ground is very muddy. (I was particularly stuck for 10 minutes, until my rescue).

So, finally, very exhausted but very satisfied, we finally arrived at the SERNANP camp in the Paramo. All dirty, wet, we settled for rest, while preparing a barbecue of shoes. Everyone telling their respective anecdotes of the journey, we couldn’t celebrate our goal achieved, we were so tired to do it, so everyone went to sleep.

It dawned, we take some souvenir photos and that's it, back to home.

On the way, the guide showed us traces of a spectacled bear. And he took advantage of telling us about an encounter he had with one of them: "He was next to another park ranger eating and there is a noise in the bushes; the bear then appears, it was an adult male, it stood on its two legs, it rolled for a while, it came down, it turned around and left. "- Evelio said. We could not see either the tapir or the bear, but seeing their tracks gave us great satisfaction to have shared their territory for a day.

Before the publication of this post, a marsupial mammal has recently been discovered, it is a new species of shrew. And this enhances the value of the SNTN, because it indicates that there is much to investigate and learn about this beautiful place.

The main objective of the Sanctuary is the protection of cloud forests, their biodiversity, and conservation of the Paramo. Knowing these places makes us understand the importance of the ANPs and create a greater awareness of the issues of conservation and protection of flora and fauna.

Plus Visit:We take advantage of passing through San Pablo to visit the lagoons of Alto Peru, in the Jalca at 4000 mamsl, at the head of the Jequetepeque basin. Conformed to a network of more than 200 natural lagoons within a hydric recharge zone that supplies water to most of the basin. Appreciating a beautiful view as a farewell to the trip.

Here is a list of some of the beautiful birds that we see in BP Pagaibamba and during the rest of the trip:

Adelomyia melanogenys
Aglaeactis cupripennis
Anisognathus lacrymosus
Atlapetes latinuchus
Cathartes aura
Coeligena iris
Cranioleuca antisiensis
Crotophaga sulcirostris
Elaenia flavogaster
Lepidocolaptes lacrymiger
Lesbia nuna
Mecocerculus calopterus
Mecocerculus stictopterus
Myioborus melanocephalus
Ochthoeca cinnamomeiventris
Patagioenas fasciata
Penelope barbata
Scytalopus latrans
Synallaxis azarae
Troglodytes solstitialis

www.sernanp.gob.pe/cajamarca
www.facebook.com/SERNANPPERU

Protected Forest Pagaibamba
Joel Rolando Córdova Maquera
jcordovam@sernanp.gob.pe

National Sanctuary Tabaconas Namballe
Ing. Douglas Cotrina Sanchez
dcotrina@sernanp.gob.pe

National University of Cajamarca
www.unc.edu.pe/celendin
www.facebook.com/unc.eapiac.celendin
www.facebook.com/groups/unc.eapiac.celendin