Tourism is an important piece of the puzzle of how to save the Amazon rainforest. The Tambopata and Madre de Dios Rivers flow into the Amazon and the whole area is part of the Amazon basin.

Illegal mining and logging picked up speed in 2020 when enforcement of protected lands stopped during the pandemic. It will take a lot of work to slow it back down and an almost unimaginable amount of work to actually stop it. Gold mining in particular is destroying vast areas of the Peruvian Amazon and dumping mercury into the water in the process, like the photo below.

Tourism provides jobs outside of the mining and logging industries and encourages local communities to protect the land and wildlife that tourists want to visit. All tour agencies and NGOs are on the same side when it comes to protecting what’s left of the rainforest and buying up deforested land to re-establish native flora and fauna.

That said, the NGOs that stand out and deserve more support are FENAMAD and ACCA. Check out their websites and contact them to arrange visits to their lodges and wildlife reserves.