Inkaterra Opens First Genetic Lab in Amazon Basin

Inkaterra, in time for Earth Day (April 22), recently rolled out numerous new initiatives under the company's conservation arm, NGO Inkaterra Asociación (ITA). The highlight? Green Lab—the first genetic research field lab established in the Amazon basin—located at Inkaterra Guides Field Station in the Madre de Dios region of Peru's Amazon rainforest. Inkaterra's project aims to study and monitor biosafety across Amazonian ecosystems, complemented by educational workshops for local communities to raise awareness about environmental care and human interaction with native wildlife.

Established in 1978, ITA has produced major flora and fauna inventories throughout the areas in Peru in which Inkaterra Hotels operates eco-luxury properties. It has registered a total of 903 bird species on Inkaterra's grounds. In addition to cataloguing bird species on Inkaterra's properties, ITA has catalogued 313 butterfly species, 362 ant species (a world record, according to Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson), 100 mammal species, 1,266 vascular plant species and 372 native orchid species (the world's largest and most diverse collection of indigenous orchids in one location, according to the American Orchid Society). Inkaterra is home to 29 new species found within its grounds: 20 orchids, five amphibians, one butterfly, two bromeliads and one tropical vine.

Last year, ITA launched the Palmetum project, home to 19 of the 23 palm species identified around the world, in the Madre de Dios region of Peru's Amazon rainforest. The project catalogues and harvests the most diverse sample of native palms in the region, preserving genetic diversity while simultaneously raising awareness among indigenous communities of the role of palms in native architecture and local economy. Close by, Inkaterra's Bio-Orchard project houses a diverse collection of native foods through regional, carbon-free agroforestry techniques. Fauna is monitored through a motion-sensitive camera trap system, allowing researchers to study ecology and wildlife behavior, while bird management is performed through a bird banding station, a Bio-Acoustics system (in alliance with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology) and other strategies towards the conservation of endemic species and safe migratory routes.

Through strategic partnerships with the Smithsonian Institution, the National Geographic Society and other organizations, Inkaterra's research and conservation initiatives aim to achieve a sustainable use of natural resources for local communities' development.

Inkaterra says its ongoing commitment to research and conservation, managed by Inkaterra Asociación, in the Amazon rainforest of Madre de Dios, has protected thousands of acres of Amazon tropical forest and Andean cloud forest, created a rehabilitation center for the endangered Spectacled Andean bear, protected and catalogued hundreds of orchid, hummingbird, and butterfly species, restored a 16th-century mansion in Cusco (Inkaterra La Casona), and has hosted hundreds of scientists at its properties to aid in their research to catalogue, discover and preserve Peru's natural gifts.

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