Page 3 - Phi Kappa Tau - Cornell - Fall 2018

TWO WILDERNESS TREKS MAKE FOR
A SPECTACULAR SUMMER

By Alec Hopping ’17 Once I finished my surveys, I took
This summer, I had the chance to a bit of a detour road trip to my home in
spend time working in two spectacular and Colorado, and then flew to Peru a few days
infrequently visited regions: the Northern later.
Rockies along the border of British In the Amazon, I helped advise an
Columbia, and in the south- ecolodge/reserve complex
western Amazon in Peru and on behalf of Cornell’s
Bolivia. Ecotourism Club, and joined
From May through early an expedition along the Río
July, I conducted backcoun- Heath, which forms part of
try bird surveys on behalf the border between Peru and
of Boise State University. Bolivia. This region, known Alec Hopping ’17 with a domesticated pale-
These surveys took place in as Madre de Dios, is one of winged trumpeter in a small indigenous
some of the most remote ter- A picture of a collared puffbird the most biodiverse places community in the Amazon.
ritories in the lower 48, were taken by Alec Hopping ’17 in on earth. For example, the
largely off-trail and deep in the Amazon. Inkaterra Reserve (where illegal gold mining. I spent lots of time
the wilderness, and I was I was) had 2,152 recorded looking for “specialty species” there, hoping
almost entirely solo, save for a handful of species of animals in the understory and to find notoriously rare birds that might be
paired surveys in areas with exceptionally forest floor alone, and 550 different spe- easier to see at Inkaterra, making it more
high grizzly populations. I woke up around cies of plants per hectare. These are crazy attractive to tourists, and submitted all of
4:00 a.m. on survey days, put 10,000 miles numbers—some think there could be 30 my sightings (of 432 species) to Cornell’s
on two rental cars (over about a month and million insect species in Madre de Dios eBird—a public citizen-science database.
a half), and lord knows how many hours alone, triple previous estimates for all the I joined a six-day river boat expedition
To me, there is a sort of [
I spent hiking, standing, hacking through species on earth. to Bolivia, searching for new and exciting
fallen trees with my hatchet, locations where Inkaterra
or staring at a topo map try- “Figuring out how to make ecotourism might bring guests, including
ing to figure out how to attack a clay lick or “colpa,” which
a ridge. And I guess I didn’t work is crucial for saving these habitats from [ was frequented by huge,
shower for over a month. But destruction—already, 20 percent of the Amazon rainbow flocks of macaws.
as grueling as it was, it was We caught piranhas in the
every bit as refreshing. Basin has been lost, mostly from deforestation for river and ate them, and vis-
ited indigenous communities
primal pleasure that arises inefficient agriculture and cattle ranching.” rarely seen by westerners.
when every decision you Parts of the Madre de Dios
make has so much importance. Sure, I had My purpose there was to help Inkaterra headwaters are so remote that uncontacted
a satellite phone that I used to check in with improve its attractiveness to birders, tribes still exist there—some of the people
my supervisors, but there wasn’t really a mostly relating to its two world-class I was with have had spears thrown at their
safety net. If I messed up, I was the only one lodges, Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica boats from shore. Yes, pre-Columbian civi-
who could be held accountable. It’s the kind and Hacienda Concepcion. Figuring out lization is still intact in parts of the south-
of thing I read stories about as a kid, and how to make ecotourism work is crucial western Amazon, and the people there have
to actually do it was unreal. These surveys, for saving these habitats from destruc- no knowledge of the modern world. Their
called IMBCR (Integrated Monitoring in tion—already, 20 percent of the Amazon Spanish is grumbly and hard to decipher,
Bird Conservation Regions), are critical Basin has been lost, mostly from defores- laced with tribal slang, as if everyone had
for understanding how bird populations tation for inefficient agriculture and cattle marbles in their mouths. I had some kind
are moving and changing over time, which ranching. Lodges like Inkaterra provide of bug bite everywhere, but, having spent
is an excellent indicator of all sorts of a great incentive for locals to protect the about six months in Latin America since
things, from climate change to the way we forest—they bring in tourists, and provide high school, have gotten used to that.
approach logging in the Northwest. They’re quality career options in a region otherwise Montana was wilderness, sure, but
connected to much more than we realize. dominated by subsistence agriculture and Madre de Dios is a true frontier.

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