ACTION: The creation of a Rescue Center for Spectacled or Andean Bears (in danger of extinction) in Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel. Recovered from captivity where they were in poor condition. At present there are three spectacled bears, one of which is a cub 11 months old, rescued from poachers in the region.

RESULTS: Two years ago a 4-year-old female spectacled bear was reincorporated into the wild. She succeeded in reinserting herself voluntarily in the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, being one of the few cases in the world of reinsertion of a spectacled bear into the wild. This bear returned to the wild voluntarily on being attracted by a wild adult male bear. According to hotel sources she has been seen on two opportunities in the hotel surroundings with a cub.

ACTION: The creation of an orchid garden that contains 372 species. According to the American Orchid Society magazine (May 2001): “Inkaterra Machu Picchu: The largest orchid collection that is open to the public. In all probability, it is also the world’s largest orchid species collection set in a natural environment in a private facility.” At the same time this great collection of native orchids is a seed bank. Also the creation of a biology department at the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, the exhibition of 372 species of native orchids in the gardens of the hotel, the visits by hotel guests to the extensive orchid garden and the research on different species.

RESULTS: The publication of a 350-page scientific book of extraordinary beauty on orchid species at Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, photographed as slides, published unretouched with scientific descriptions. The book describes and displays the photos of 178 native species, of which 50 appear in photographs for the first time. Seven species new to science are included, one name new to science, one new genus for Peru, seven new species for Peru, as well as 4 genera and 38 new species for the register of the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu. According to Eric Christenson, on the book Orquídeas en Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, “Everyone involved in the production of this book should be congratulated for making a volume that is beautiful and important. They helped the research of this place maintain its drive, in addition to bringing the ethic of conservation to a larger audience.” This valuable publication reflects more than twenty years of research on the native orchid species of Machu Picchu, produced by José Koechlin and Inkaterra Asociación, and considered by media such as Viajeros magazine to be the best Peruvian book in recent years. The book was also presented at the Royal College of Physicians, London, by Dr. Henry Oakeley, president of the Orchid Society of Great Britain.

ACTION: Raising different species of butterflies and moths from the Amazon tropical rainforest. Teaching Inkaterra clients, students from the Puerto Maldonado (the city where the Inkaterra Butterfly House is located) schools and those interested in different butterfly species that inhabit this ecosystem, the Tambopata National Reserve – Candamo having more than 1,100 species of butterflies identified by science. Butterflies and butterfly larvae are raised so that Inkaterra guests can learn about these colorful insects, as well as develop the distribution of various laboratory-raised species in the environment.

RESULTS: Launching the Inkaterra Butterfly House situated next to the airport in Puerto Maldonado (where clients coming from Lima and Cusco land) and where check-in takes place for all guests who are going by cruise to the Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica lodge, located an hour from the Butterfly House and across from the Tambopata National Reserve. Guests can directly observe the different species of butterflies that are free in the garden of Inkaterra Butterfly House.

ACTION: Management of 18 hummingbird species in the cloud forest of Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, as well as in the Amazon tropical rainforest at the Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica lodge, by means of placing water and sugar dispensers in the gardens of both hotels and by the restoration of the cloud forest so that the 18 hummingbird species can be appreciated up close by Inkaterra guests, hotel staff and students from local schools. The placing of water dispensers in the vicinity of the Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica lodge and the Canopy Walkway in order to be able to appreciate the flight and behavior of these fantastic birds, who has from 60 to 110 wing beats per second, depending on the species. Scientific monitoring of the different species and their behavior in situ. Hummingbirds live only in the Americas.

RESULTS: Teaching of Inkaterra guests, based on the scientific research to publish the hummingbird identifier sheets, the check-lists and the interactive DVD of birds on the properties of Inkaterra.

ACTION: Research houses managed by the NGO Inkaterra Asociación where scientists with different specialties are lodged, such as ornithologists, herpetologists, entomologists, etc. who carry out investigations about biodiversity, providing objective information for the creation of publications that help teach Inkaterra guests about natural resources.

RESULTS: The publication of the books: Cusco Amazónico: The Lives of Amphibians and Reptiles in an Amazonian Rainforest (published by Cornell University Press, 2005, with the support of Inkaterra in the production field in the Inkaterra Ecological Reserve, which took 14 years to study); Flórula de la Reserva Ecológica Inkaterra (published by the Missouri Botanical Garden and Inkaterra Asociación, 2006) which took 15 years of field studies in the Inkaterra Ecological Reserve; and Orchids at Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel (Published by Inkaterra, 2007) which took 20 years of research in the hotel’s cloud forest. Also the printing and creation of thousands of identifier sheets for the birds, orchids and butterflies of Machu Picchu and the tropical rainforest of the Inkaterra Ecological Reserve; the check lists of species for bird watching, the interactive DVD of birds of Amazonia and the cloud forest, and the educational compact discs of bird songs recorded in the gardens of the Inkaterra hotels. Many papers and thesis have also been published.

ACTION: In 1980 the work of ecological restoration was begun in the cloud forest at the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel. Plantations of native trees and plants were carried out, to serve as butterfly larvae hosts and to produce the fruits the birds of the area like, such as the Cock of the Rock and other species of fauna. These plantations supply the food for the current population of 192 species of birds that can be observed in the hotel gardens. In 1982 the planning and execution of the formation of the orchid garden, as well as an ecosystem with many insects, reptiles and even wild spectacled bears that come to eat the abundant restored bromeliads.

RESULTS: One hundred ninety-two species of birds have been attracted (18 of them hummingbirds), 111 species of butterflies, 372 native species of orchids, in addition to ferns, bromeliads, a tea plantation, medicinal plants, organic vegetables and a Spectacled Bear Rescue Center which is home to 3 bears and from which a female bear has been reinserted into the wild in the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu. According to the award-winning movie producer Werner Herzog “. . . the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel is without a doubt the most marvelous place there is. It is so beautiful that . . . you don’t see anything like it in the world!” (Somos magazine, April 2009). The important magazine Condé Nast Traveler has selected Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel for its January 2010 Gold List. The same magazine Condé Nast Traveler 2009 considers Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel in the Top 8 Hotels in South America and Second Best Hotel in Peru (88.40 points) in November 2009. The magazine Travel + Leisure in its World’s Best Awards considers Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel as the fourth best Resort in Central and South America, in July 2009, and this same magazine also considered Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel among the 100 best hotels in the world in 2008. Also National Geographic TRAVELER, in May-June 2002, awarded it with the Best Practices Award for Sustainable Travel.

ACTION: The creation in 2004 of the Inkaterra Canopy Walkway through the NGO Inkaterra Asociación. The Global Environment Facility of the United Nations made a loan through the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group to the NGO Inkaterra Asociación for the construction of these suspension bridges (Canopy Walkway) between trees in Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica; this being the first loan granted to a private institution in the entire history of the GEF. There are seven suspension bridges, two towers with structures and with wooden stairways and eight platforms for observing the canopy of the Amazon rainforest, allowing comfortable access to the world of the treetops for research, being paid for by tourist activities. One can easily investigate the birds, monkeys and animals that live 30 feet above the floor of the Amazon tropical forest. Also the construction of the Canopy Tree House at the end of the Canopy Walkway, for lodging guests or scientists who want to continuously observe the treetops and their biodiversity.

RESULTS: Support for research on biodiversity in the canopy of the Amazon tropical wet forest through the inventory and monitoring of the birds, mammals, plants and trees. The Canopy Walkway has received more than 25,000 visitors, including scientists, students and guests who have learned about the biodiversity of this upper forest layer by means of these suspension bridges and platforms of Inkaterra.