Río Nieva (100130)
Peru, South America

Site overview

KBA status: confirmed

Global KBA criteria: A1a, A1c, B2

Year of last assessment: 2023

National site name: Río Nieva

Central coordinates: Latitude: -5.3843, Longitude: -77.8328

System: terrestrial, freshwater

Elevation (m): 550 to 2600

Area of KBA (km²): 964.46742

Protected area coverage (%): 37.62

KBA classification: Global

Legacy site: No

Site details

Site description: The KBA Río Nieva covers an area of 964.47 sq km and it's located within the provinces of Bongará and Condorcanqui in the department of Loreto. This KBA was delimited based on the northern edge of the original KBA Abra Patricia - Alto Mayo, modified to the south by the boundary of the Río Nieva Reserved Zone and to the east by the Alto Mayo KBA. The altitude range of the KBA Río Nieva is 550-2600 masl. The main climate types in the KBA are: (1) temperate, very rainy with abundant humidity all seasons of the year, (2) warm, rainy with abundant humidity all seasons of the year, and (3) temperate, rainy with abundant humidity all seasons of the year. In the region, the maximum temperature ranges from 25°C to 33°C; the minimum temperature ranges from 11°C to 23°C; and precipitation ranges from 1200 mm to 3500 mm. Following the National Map of Ecoregions, the KBA Río Nieva presents ca. 59% of Bosque basimontano de Yunga (Lower Montane Yungas Forest) and ca. 41% of Bosque montano de Yunga (Montane Yungas Forest).

Rationale for qualifying as KBA: The KBA Río Nieva qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that meets the thresholds for A1 and B2 criteria described in the Global Standard for the Identification of KBA. The KBA Río Nieva harbors the Endangered Andean Night Monkey Aotus miconax and the range restricted birds Megascops petersoni, Grallaria przewalskii, Xenerpestes singularis and Dysithamnus occidentalis.

Additional biodiversity: Grallaria carrikeri, Hemitriccus cinnamomeipectus, Knipolegus signatus, Pyrrhura peruviana, Grallaria blakei, Eriocnemis sapphiropygia and Wetmorethraupis sterrhopteron.

Manageability of the site: Since the KBA Río Nieva enclosures the Río Nieva Reserved Zone, almost all of the Concession for Conservation of the Tijae Nain Commonwealth Association, part of the Concession for Conservation of the Pamau Nain Commonwealth Association and part of the Buffer Zone of the 'Bosque of Protection Alto Mayo', this KBA can be managed by the National Service of Protected Natural Areas - SERNANP or by the National Forest and Wildlife Service - SERFOR.

Supersedes another site: SitRecID 24462 - Abra Patricia - Alto Mayo

Other site values: Agkais Native Community, Awajún Indigenous Communities to the north of th KBA.

Delineation rationale: The KBA Río Nieva follows the northern edge of the original KBA Abra Patricia - Alto Mayo, modified to the south by the boundary of the Río Nieva Reserved Zone and to the east by the Alto Mayo KBA.

Habitats

Land use: Future National protected area by the Peruvian Goverment

IUCN Habitat	Coverage %	Habitat detail
Forest	100	Forest – Subtropical/tropical moist montane

Threats

Threat level 1	Threat level 2	Threat level 3	Timing
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas		Ongoing
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads		Ongoing
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops	Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Ongoing
Agriculture & aquaculture	Livestock farming & ranching	Scale Unknown/Unrecorded	Ongoing

Additional information

References: MINAM. (2018). Mapa Nacional de Ecosistemas del Perú. SINIA (Sistema Nacional de Información Ambiental) https://sinia.minam.gob.pe/mapas/mapa-nacional-ecosistemas-peru. Castro, A., Dávila, C., Laura, W., Cubas Saucedo, F., Ávalos, G., López, C., ... & Marín, D. (2021). Climas del Perú: mapa de clasificación climática nacional. In Climas del Perú: mapa de clasificación climática nacional (pp. 70-70). https://www.senamhi.gob.pe/?p=mapa-climatico-del-peru