Cutervo National Park 2.39

Cutervo National Park , established in 1961, is the oldest protected area in Peru. It is located in the northern Peruvian Andes, in the region of Cajamarca. The park was extended to 8214ha and protects areas of Andean montane forests and paramo for headwater conservation. Moreover, those areas are the habitat of animal species like the spectacled bear, the mountain tapir, and the oilbird; and plant species like the Andean wax palms.HistoryHuman occupation in the area dates back to the Pre-Columbian era. Archaeological remains are present inside the national park, primarily within the El Perolito Archaeological Site.Following the 8th Pan-American Conference in 1938 held in Lima, the nature conservationist society Comité Nacional de Protección a la Naturaleza (National Committee of Nature Protection) was founded, which included the Federación Cultural de Cutervo-Lima (Cultural Federation of Cutervo in Lima). Federación Cultural de Cutervo-Lima submitted a project for a national park near Cutervo to the Ministry of Agriculture that was dismissed.Biologist Salomon Vilchez Murga, as deputy for the region of Cajamarca, presented a project to the congress for the creation of Cutervo National Park, which passed as law 13694 on September 8, 1961, and took effect 12 days later on September 20. The park was created with a surface of 2500hectare. A proposal to increase the park area was submitted in 2000. Law 28860 expanded the area of the park to the current 8214ha on August 3, 2006. In 2007, a buffer zone surrounding the national park was created in order to diminish pressure and threats to the ecosystems inside the park.