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Where and How?

Amazonia encompasses seven million square kilometers located within nine nations on the continent of South/Latin America: Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.

I will begin my conservation expedition in Peru at the Los Amigos Biological Station (CIRCA), run by the Amazon Conservation Association

In 2001, the Amazon Conservation Association (ACA) established the world's first private conservation concession. The Los Amigos Conservation Concession protects the watershed of the Los Amigos River and 360,000 acres of old-growth Amazonian forest in the department of Madre de Dios in southeastern Peru. Today, the conservation concession is among the Amazon's most active centers for research, natural resource management training, and environmental education.

Los Amigos is home to a remarkable diversity of plant and animal species. Bordering world-famous Manu National Park to the east, the Los Amigos watershed forms part of a 20 million-acre block of protected wilderness in southeastern Peru. The landscape is a mosaic of terrestrial and aquatic habitats, including palm swamps, bamboo thickets, oxbow lakes, and various types of flooded and non-flooded forests. Wildlife is abundant, including 12 globally threatened species and abundant Amazonian fauna including giant otters, harpy eagles, spider monkeys and jaguars. The area contains 13 species of primates. By way of comparison, all of Costa Rica holds only four.

ACA believes the world's most diverse forests should also be its best-studied forests. That means transforming the Andes-Amazon region into a leading destination for scientists around the world. With their field stations and scholarship programs, they're pioneering a new kind of tropical science - a research program that strengthens the local scientific community and shares data openly as it informs their conservation decisions.

I will then trek down river for a couple of days to reach part II of my mission - the Fauna Forever Project!

Fauna Forever Tambopata (FFT) is a long-term wildlife and ecotourism monitoring project based in and around the Tambopata National Reserve and Bahuaja Sonene National Park, also in the Amazon rainforest of south-eastern Peru. The Tambopata region encompassed by these two protected areas, and their respective buffer zones, lies on the eastern edge of the Tropical Andes biodiversity hotspot, arguably the most biodiverse region on Earth and known for its wilderness qualities.

The FFT project, which dates back to 1997, is managed by a dedicated team of international and Peruvian biologists who are committed to conserving Peru's unparalleled biodiversity.

Donate

The only way I can get enough money together for these two incredible charities is to fundraise with your help! This is your chance to play a valuable role in saving the Amazon - donate into my bank account below (which I will add together and donate in one lump sum), or by emailing me if you would like to arrange a direct donation to either charity.

MR D JOHNSTON

NATWEST BANK, High Street Kensington - Royal Gardens, London

Account Number: 86001329

Sort Code: 503010

International IBAN No. GB42NWBK50301086001329

International SWIFT code. NWBKGB2L

A very big thank you...

To all who came to our loveDJ fundraising event and who've donated to or supported this cause, here are three messages direct from the people involved, just for you:

From the Fauna Forever Tambopata Project:

From loveDJ:

From the Amazon Conservation Association: