Manu National Park Peru

Manu is located in the south east of Peru in the province of Manu in the department of Madre de Dios. It includes part of the Peruvian sierra or mountain area as well as tropical rainforest. It has an area of over 2 million hectares and is rich in flora and fauna and has a great variety of habitats including high andes, cloud forests and tropical rainforest. You will see photos of some of the animals and plants here.

Access to the Manu National Park is restricted. However, the adjacent "Reserved Zone" and "Cultural Zone" have the same attractions and several lodgings for tourists. There are various ways of reaching Manu. The two main ones leave via Cusco. One is first by land (approximately 12 hours) to Atalaya or Shintuya and then by river (approximately 6 hours) along the river Alto Madre de Dios and river Manu. The second is by aeroplane (30 minutes) to Boca Manu and then going up the river Manu (approximately 4 hours).

Manu is the habitat of 10% of the vegetation species of the world. A single hectare of rainforest in Manu can shelter more than 220 species of trees, whereas in Europe and North America a hectare of temperate woodland might have only 20 species of trees. The Manu National Park in Peru is probably the protected park with the highest the highest biological diversity in the world.