Las Piedras River (Peru)
The Las Piedras River (the "River of Stones") is a major tributary of the Madre de Dios River in the southeast Peruvian Amazon. Geography of the Piedras Region The Las Piedras River is located in the department of Madre de Dios, which is the official capital of biodiversity in Peru , and is part of the Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot. The Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot contains the largest percentage of endemic plants and animals in the world. The Piedras River is the longest tributary of the Madre de Dios River and more than 99 percent of its drainage is in the Amazon lowlands, below 400 meters. The capital of the Las Piedras District is the town of Planchón, which is located in the province Tambopata in the Madre de Dios Department Large portions of the headwaters of the Piedras River are protected by Alto Purus National Park. Below Alto Purus on the Piedras River is the Reserva Territorial Madre de Dios, which is the official territory of Masco-Piro indigenous people, who have been living in voluntary isolation since at least the time of the rubber boom that began in the 1860s. Downriver from the Reserva Territorial Madre de Dios are commercial timber concessions and the indigenous territories of Monte Salvado and Puerto Nuevo. Below the timber concessions and indigenous communities are Brazil nut concessions and several small indigenous and mestizo communities, including the mestizo communities of Lucerna and Sabaluyoc. In this part of the Piedras River watershed, there are also several large private conservation-oriented concessions, including the Junglekeepers concession (), which is a Peru-based non-profit, the Las Piedras Amazon Center (LPAC) (), run by the Peruvian nonprofit ARCAmazon, the Arbio concession, run by Arbio Peru and land protected by Hoja Nueva, which is a US-based nonprofit. History of the Piedras Region The original indigenous name of the Piedras River is “Tacuatimanu”. Indigenous communities in the region include the Masco-Piro, Amahuaca and the Yine. In the first of many expeditions exploring the Piedras River, Father Pío Aza lead a group in 1911 to locate local indigenous groups and settle them in Christian missions. The Masco-Piro and Amahuaca were exploited and enslaved by rubber barons starting during the rubber boom. The rubber boom arrived in the Las Piedras in 1894 after large concentrations of high-quality rubber were found. Members of the Masco-Piro living in voluntary isolation today are thought to be related to members of the Masco-Piro groups who fled local rubber barons before enslavement or after they attacked the rubber barons for being mistreated and later fled into the forests to avoid persecution. The Masco-Piro language is part of the Arawak and the Amahuaca is part of the Pano linguistic family. The Masco-Piro live on the tributaries of the Manu, Los Amigos, Las Piedras, and Tahuamanu Rivers (Castillo 2004). These semi-nomadic groups are believed to move seasonally between the headwaters of the Manu, Alto Púrus, and Las Piedras rivers. The Amahuca live in the community of Boca Pariamanu and in communities