PANTIACOLLA'S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LOW IMPACT

It is Pantiacolla’s goal to help our visitors to get to know, understand and appreciate the Manu rainforest. We hope visitors will then become aware of the need for protection and conservation of this forest and all natural places on Earth. With this in mind, we would like to share with you our recommendations about how to produce as little impact as possible upon the natural environment of Manu during your visit.  

Protection of the forest:

• No animal or plant species can be taken from the forest. Use of machetes to cut vegetation is limited to our tour- or lodge personnel and under strict regulation.
• Walking is limited to the trails.
• Animals cannot be handled to avoid stress and insect-repellent contamination.
• Fishing is not allowed in Manu’s Reserved Zone: the hooks may be bitten off by pirañas. The pirañas are eaten by giant otters, which will then have the hook in their stomach, causing them considerable harm.

Carbon-dioxide emissions:

• Plant a tree! To help offset the carbon-dioxide emissions caused by the plane that has brought you to Peru, why not plant trees? You can read about how you can contribute to this worthwhile project on the website of the organization Trees for Travel: www.treesfortravel.nl/general.html or others.
• Lower fuel emissions. Oftentimes the bus and boat used for your transportation will also transport food or materials for Pantiacolla’s eco-lodges. We ask your understanding, since in this way we can reduce the number of trips our bus and boats make, thereby reducing carbon-dioxide emissions from the motors.
• Our eco-lodges (but nót the camping huts) have small generators that are only used to recharge your batteries. Make sure you recharge as little as possible and coordinate with the guide, so the other members of your group will recharche at the same time. Thus minimizing fuel emission from the generators and also noise contamination!
  

Garbage disposal:

• All garbage has to be taken out of the rainforest. Never leave any garbage on the trails or around the eco-lodges. Use Pantiacolla’s garbage bags for disposal.
• Respect our rules for disposal of garbage in bags for biodegradable and non-biodegradable garbage. 
• Vegetable and fruit waste cannot be thrown in the river or forest. Even though these may decay fast, in the mean time they are a visual contamination for other visitors. The peels may also contain chemicals such as insecticides and preservatives.
• Use biodegradable soap and shampoo. If not available, use your non-biodegradable products as little as possible.
• If you smoke, make sure you pick up all your cigarette ends. These take a very long time to decay and if eaten before that, can be a health hazard to the animals.
• Avoid using plastics that only have a short term use. If plastic is necessary, like plastic bags to keep your clothes dry in, for example, try to buy bags that can be used again, either by you or the next tourist. If possible, don’t buy any drinks in plastic bottles, opting instead for glass bottles. If buying plastic bottles cannot be avoided, make sure the bottles will be returned to Cusco and recycled (throw them in the garbage bag for non-biodegradable garbage during your trip with Pantiacolla).
• Recycle camera/flashlight batteries. Cusco does not have a place to recycle batteries; if this is available to you back home, please take your batteries back with you and recycle them there. Where this is not possible, please leave the batteries with your guide or at the Pantiacolla office. We will store them, hoping in the future there will be the possibility of recycling them locally.

Contact with local people:

• Respect customs and habits of local people. Do not impose your actions upon them without having their explicit permission. For example, taking pictures unasked or entering their houses unasked (even though they look open and inviting) may cause distress.
• Buying local products helps people to have a monetary income. Make sure you are paying a fair price for them!
• Never purchase any animal or plant, or products made of them, of species on the threatened or endangered lists. 

If you have additional ideas you would like to share, we would be pleased to hear them and add to this list!