Los Santos (24595)
Peru, South America
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: A1a, A1c, B1, B2
Year of last assessment: 2023
National site name: Los Santos
Central coordinates: Latitude: -5.9680, Longitude: -77.8950
System: terrestrial
Elevation (m): 1150 to 3500
Area of KBA (km2): 359.017996
Protected area coverage (%): 5.65
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The KBA Los Santos covers an area of 521.015 sq km and it's located within the provinces of Bongará, Luya and Chachapoyas in the department of Amazonas, on the eastern part of the valley of the Utcubamba river and is crossed by the road that connects the town of Pedro Ruiz with the cities of Rioja and Tarapoto. The altitude range of the KBA Los Santos is 1150-3500 masl. This zone is quite fragmented and harbors few large areas of pristine habitat. In this KBA, which is located in the Peruvian Yungas Ecoregion, highly intervened landscapes predominate, and lands that have been abandoned due to the invasion of secondary vegetation after having been used for agriculture or livestock. Within this KBA are the Gocta waterfalls, considered among the highest in the world, which receive a lot of attention from adventure tourism. In Huembo (San Lucas de Pomacochas community), an ecological easement of 31.29 ha has been established between said community and ECOAN and an interpretation center for visitors on the Spatula-tailed Hummingbird (Loddigesia mirabilis) has been built, and doing reforestation work with native flora. It includes three Private Conservation Areas: Arroyo Negro, San Pablo Communal - Gocta Waterfall and San Lorenzo. The main climate types in the KBA Los Santos are: 1) Temperate, semi-dry with abundant humidity all seasons of the year and 2) Temperate, rainy with abundant humidity all seasons of the year. The temperature ranges from 7°C to 25°C and the annual precipitation ranges from 700 mm to 3000 mm. The KBA Los Santos presents the following ecosystems: "Bosque Altimontano (pluvial) de Yunga (Yunga montane (pluvial) forest)", "Bosque Montano de Yunga (Yunga Montane Forest)", secondary vegetation, "Pastizales/herbazales (Grasslands/herbazales)", "Jalca (Jalca)" and "Bosque Basimontano de Yunga (Basimontane Yunga Forest)"
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: The KBA Los Santos qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that meets the thresholds for A1, B1 and B2 criteria described in the Global Standard for the Identification of KBAs. The KBA Los Santos harbors two threatened primates (Aotus miconax and Lagothrix flavicauda) and eleven range restricted bird species.
Additional biodiversity: Astroblepus hidalgoi, Astroblepus floridaensis, Cnemoscopus chrysogaster, Eriocnemis sapphiropygia, Melanopareia maranonica, Metallura theresiae, Scytalopus acutirostris, Nectandra herrerae, Desmodus rotundus, Carollia brevicauda, Nephelomys albigularis, Oligoryzomys destructor, Corryocactus chachapoyensis, Cranioleuca berlepschi, Grallaria przewalskii, Heliangeluz regalis, Henicorhina leucoptera, Loddigesia mirabilis, Patagioenas oenops, Poecilotriccus luluae, Tangara argyrofenges, Sericossypha albocristata, Phacellodomus dorsalis, Phaethornis koepckeae, Spizaetus isidori, Vultur gryphus, Picumnus steindachneri, Aulacorhynchus cyanolaemus, Grallaria carrikeri, Heliangelus viola, Scytalopus macropus, Turdus maranonicus, Megascops petersoni, Pheugopedius sclateri, Hemitriccus cinnamomeipectus, Picumnis steindachneri, Thlypopsis inornata the range restricted and Phlogophilus hemileucurus, Zimmerius viridiflavus, Cinnycerthia peruana, Coeligena dichroura, Thaumasius taczanowskii, Scytalopus femoralis, Uromyias agraphia, Pheugopedius schulenbergi, Polioptila maior, Kleinothraupis auricularis, Spatula discors, Bartramia longicauda, Leucophaeus atricilla, Actitis macularius, Contopus virens, Hirundo rustica, Piranga rubra
Manageability of the site: Since three private conservation areas are located within the KBA Los Santos: ''Arroyo Negro'', ''Comunal San Pablo - Catarata Gocta'' and ''San Lorenzo'', this KBA can be managed by the National Forest and Wildlife Service - SERFOR.
The National Coordination Group of KBAs has a conservation promotion and monitoring committee, which is composed of various governmental and civil society institutions that will work to promote conservation actions in the KBA.
Other site values: -
Delineation rationale: The Los Santos KBA is delineated to include the trigger species. To the north, it follows the margin of the Utcubamba River in the district of Shipasbamba, excluding the agricultural zones in the towns of Pedro Ruiz, Cuispes, Suyubamba, San Carlos, Churuja and San Pablo. To the west, it crosses from the Sucusbamba River along the left bank of the Uctubamba River. To the south it delimits with the provincial limit between Chachapoyas and Bongara following by this where it includes the locality of Vista Hermosa to follow the limit of the district La Recta. To the east, the district of Jumbilla excludes agricultural zones and then follows the Cuisipes district boundary. To the northeast, the town of Pomacochas and the agricultural zones are excluded, including the town of Kepto and the Arroyo Negro and San Lorenzo Private Conservation Area where the mountainous terrain continues above 2600 meters above sea level in the district of Yambrasbamba.
Habitats
Summary of habitats in KBA: Forest 50-60%
Grassland 10-20%
Other 20-30%
Land use: This KBA doesn´t have any type of management
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Grassland | 15 | |
| Forest | 55 | |
| Other | 25 |
Threats
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases | Unknown |
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
Contributors: Laura Graham-Angeles, Víctor Pacheco, Sam Shanee, Max Hidalgo, César Aguilar, Letty Salinas, Alejandra Arana, Victor Sánchez and Camila Dávila.