Where: Peru, South America

What's at stake: Old-growth mahogany and cedar trees, rainforest species, indigenous cultures

Threatened by: Logging

Animals include: Giant otter, black caiman, squirrel monkey, macaw

	Tahuamanú province lies within Madre de Dios, the least populated territory in Peru. It also has the lowest population density -- roughly 60,000 people in 19.7 million acres of dense jungle.
	Situated near the jungle border with Brazil and Bolivia, Tahuamanú is home to large stands of old-growth mahogany and cedar trees -- highly valuable wood that's been the target of large-scale illegal logging.
	The Tahuamanú region also borders the vast Manu National Park, which provides habitat for more than 800 kinds of birds (roughly 10 percent of all known bird species in the world). The park -- Peru's largest -- is also home to 13 kinds of monkeys and endangered mammals such as the giant otter, the ocelot and the jaguar.
	At least four indigenous groups live in Manu National Park -- the Mascho-Piro, the Yaminahua and the Amahuaca. These nomadic Indians survive by hunting, fishing, collecting turtle eggs and growing root crops.
	The giant otter, called the "river wolf" by local people, is nearly six feet long on average, making it the largest species in the biological family that includes badgers, minks and weasels. It is found only in pristine, undisturbed regions, and thus is regarded as a good "bioindicator" of the health of the tropical rainforest it inhabits.
	Just west of Tahuamanú is the smaller Tambopata Reserve, which contains the world's largest known mineral "clay lick." Each day, thousands of parrots and macaws converge on this towering cliff to dine on mineral-rich mud, which is believed to aid the birds in digesting acidic fruits.

Photo credits: River at sunrise, © Anne Labastille. Squirrel monkey, © Gerry Ellis.