This National Reserve is located in the Loreto region (province of Maynas) and has an area of 58, 069.99 hectares.It has great and peculiar biological richness, where forests extend from the banks of the Nanay river (around the community of Mishana) to the first 18,64 miles of the Iquitos-Nauta road. It has unique ecosystems based on white sand, such as the Varillal and the Chamizal forests, which are home to large kinds of endemic plants and animals of restricted distribution, many of them not yet recorded or described. The pace of deforestation and human intervention in the area is very fast, and many unique species are in real and imminent danger of extinction because of loss of habitat or direct extraction; this situation demands immediate protection and management.
This reserve protects a significant part of the forests located in the hydrographic basin of the Nanay river, which is the main source of good-quality drinking water for the city of Iquitos. Moreover, these forests help regulate climate and rainfalls and mitigate impact of sudden changes of temperature.Because of its easy access and proximity to the city of Iquitos, this reserve has a great potential to provide tourist services, mainly to specialized tourism: ecotourism and scientific tourism.
The Allpahuayo Mishana Reserve articulates a tourism axis including the Quistococha Tourist Complex, the city of Nauta, the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, and the point of origin of the Amazon river.In this natural scenario of Amazon biodiversity, visitors will be able to see the essential ecological processes of the tropical rainy jungle, as well as its varied flora and fauna. The objective of the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve is to preserve the singularity and variability of the ecosystems existing in the bordering area to the Nanay river and to the Mishana community.
