Visit the Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park

Photo: Nicolas Quendez, Sernanp

After several months of paralysis of tourist activities in the Natural Protected Areas (NPAs) – such as Machu Picchu, Paracas, Pacaya Samiria – as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the gradual reopening of some of them started, and it is expected to continue in this way in the upcoming months. Thus, the NPAs will be able to mitigate the economic damages that the sanitary emergency brought with it, and resume their actions for environmental education and work to provide natural spaces for visits that were being carried out until before the pandemic.

One of these spaces is the Yanachaga Chemillén National Park (NPYCh), located in Oxapampa, where intense work has been done during the last weeks to implement the biosecurity protocol for its reopening to the public. Likewise, everything necessary for the prevention and detection of possible cases of the new coronavirus was deployed in the tourist infrastructure. It is important to mention that the park rangers of the NPYCh face this new challenge with optimism and strength and are eager to work again with the public for the conservation of the NPAs.

Salomé Antezano, head of the NPYCh and part of the team of the National Service of natural Areas Protected by the State (Sernanp), tells us that until before the pandemic, the coordination of conservation efforts was carried out between the specialized personnel and the park rangers, and thus it was possible to actively participate in the meetings convened by the chief and other public and private partners important for the effective management of the NPAs. One of the activities that he regrets the most is the environmental education, which was carried out regularly with the children and young students. He explains that the pandemic has meant that they have had to look for new ways to carry out some actions virtually, and they continue to do that until today, and they cannot solve all the problems or difficulties directly in the field, as they did in times before the pandemic.

Salomé highlights the work of the park rangers, who were always at their surveillance and control posts, carrying out patrols, monitoring wildlife, and activities for the development of tourism in the tourist and recreational areas of the NPYCh. Until before the pandemic, tourist visits were on the rise: the average annual growth in the last 5 years was 14%. The areas of San Alberto and Huampal were the most popular due to their proximity to the city of Oxapampa and the high diversity of birds. In these areas you could watch birds and native vegetation, mainly orchids and trees such as red cedar, diablo fuerte, walnut, and ulcuman, among others; as well as beautiful landscapes of low and high jungle ecosystems.

In this context, on Friday, October 16, the doors were officially opened to the public in the tourist use San Alberto area from NPYCh for the development of tourist activity, with the presence and coordination of representatives from the Regional Tourism Directorate (DIRCETUR) of Pasco, the Provincial Municipality of Oxapampa, tourist operators and other allies; complying with all biosecurity and disinfection protocols to prevent and mitigate the effects of the pandemic. With such joy, Salomé points out that the first visitors to the NPA were young people from Lima, who longed for an encounter with nature after more than 7 months of being at home.