Heimplanet x Wilderness International
With a sharp whirring sound, Chiki's machete cuts its way through the tangle of green stems and leaves that have reclaimed the jungle path in just a few months. Drenched in sweat, but with a big smile on his face, he pauses and turns to us. His finger points into the treetops. "Listen!" Our group, which had been following Chiki in single file until just now, suddenly stops and falls silent.
Crunching and twittering can be heard in the branches above us. A shadow flies overhead, but before we can recognize what is flying in the air, it has already disappeared into the canopy. But what sounds like a flock of birds turns out to be a group of around 120 squirrel monkeys jumping through the branches at breakneck speed in search of seeds and communicating with their chirping.
This is Chiki's world. He is one of the forest rangers at Wilderness International. Every day, he is out and about with the others to ensure the protection of our growing forest areas. To do this, the team travels by boat along the river to the relevant piece of land and sets up a base camp there. Once on the beach, the scorching heat and relentlessly burning sun awaits us. A tarp provides relief and important shade.
Then you have to walk for miles through the jungle, fight your way through mud, cross flooded areas and stumble over slippery roots. And all this in the sweaty, humid heat, surrounded by mosquitoes, not to mention thorns, snakes and poisonous caterpillars. A good and safe night's sleep is essential for the forest rangers to be able to do this work for all of us. The Heimplanet tents are ideal for this because they are robust enough for the conditions of the jungle.
We are currently accompanying some of the forest guardians on their way to explore a new piece of land along the Tambopata River in Madre de Dios, Peru. Together with forest scientists and biologists, we want to examine its ecological integrity and threats in a so-called "rapid assessment" before we buy it and collect donations for it. It is intended to complement our existing corridor of almost 500 hectares of intact, protected habitat along the Tambopata.
The researchers are no different. To find out more about the behavior and diversity of mammals, bats, birds and reptiles in our protected areas, they are out and about every day, across country, in the forest late into the pitch-black night or on the river at first light.
Thanks to projects like these, we know exciting things about the jungle: about the tree species that still protects its trunk with large spines from prehistoric giant sloths thousands of years later, about ants that clear circular protective zones around the tree they have chosen as their home, or about inconspicuous little plants that have a powerful anesthetic effect.
The researchers usually have a lot of special equipment with them for their work. Whether it is to weigh tiny birds, measure poisonous snakes or attach microchips to leathery caiman scales. It is not easy or cheap to bring rare research technology to this remote corner of the world, so it is essential to protect it from the sudden monsoonal downpours, insects and sun. The Heimplanet tents offer optimum protection, especially due to their high water column.
Why do they even do this work? Not far from this green paradise, clear-cutting and slash-and-burn clearances for cattle farms and plantations are rapidly eating their way from the road to the river, deep into the rainforest... It was only during our last trip in March together with the WI Peru team that images like these unfortunately once again showed us the urgency of our work.
But the trip was also full of beautiful things and, above all, solutions: These include huge kapok trees in the investigation of potential new protected areas, signs that our forest rangers have now put up everywhere on the borders of our forest areas, and exciting agroforestry projects where juicy-sweet cocoa grows in the shade of large trees.
Learn more about Wilderness International and how you can support them!
