Puerto Maldonado

Also called the “Capital of Biodiversity” Puerto Maldonado is located at the confluence of the Madre de Dios and Tambopata rivers. It is a relatively recent settlement as it was founded in 1902 and its history is closely related to the rubber boom at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Today Puerto Maldonado is a boosting tropical frontier town, located near the borders of both Brazil and Bolivia. The city is connected with the rest of Peru through the Interoceanic Highway, currently under pavement.

Puerto Maldonado is the economic and political center of Madre de Dios. Half of the population in Madre de Dios, of around 100,000 people, live here. The main economic activities include gold mining, Brazil nut gathering, timber extraction, agriculture and ecotourism.

The number of dredges, bulldozers and people immersed in gold dredging correlate directly with the gold price at the international markets. It continues to be a strong magnet for the region, bringing people mainly from the highlands of Cuzco and Puno to the rainforest. Both the importance and impact of this migration on an economic, environmental as well as social level are of consideration for Madre de Dios. This activity has spurred on considerably the development of Puerto Maldonado in the last two decades. When the gold rush is over, many of these wageworkers stay in the region and live from slash-and-burn agriculture on the small farms they maintain. Slash-and-burn agriculture is responsible for the biggest loss of rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon.

Due to its low density, Madre de Dios is still covered almost entirely by rainforest. This extension of dozens of millions of hectares is a mosaic of timber and Brazil nut concessions as well as protected areas (both public and private). These timber concessions are an important source of Peruvian forestry exports. They do what is called selective logging, taking out only the most valuable species. Their concession status commits them to manage these areas with twenty year rotations and forest enrichment practices. Puerto Maldonado is where most of the lumber mills in Madre de Dios are concentrated.

The most sustainable of these extractive activities is Brazil nut gathering. Thousands of families in Madre de Dios depend directly or indirectly on this activity. Madre de Dios produces about 2500 tons a year, grossing around 10 million dollars in revenue. The importance of this industry is that in order to produce, these Brazil nut trees need vegetation around them. As a consequence, people holding a concession are the biggest protectors of the forest on their concession. From January onwards locals in Puerto Maldonado dry the nuts in their backyards or in front of their houses.

Puerto Maldonado has been mixing in sustainable activities such as ecotourism. This industry has grown amazingly in the last decade. Several daily flights from Cuzco and Lima bring visitors to this region creating a growing interest of young people in Puerto Maldonado in this flourishing industry. An increasing number of residents are studying tourism at the local schools that are now shifting from traditional studies to more service orientated courses. Ecotourism companies that in the past were forced to look for qualified personnel in Lima, Cuzco or elsewhere, are increasingly employing these highly motivated students.

Ecotourism may not become the most important economic activity in Madre de Dios in terms of gross revenue produced. However, its importance relies in producing enough demand for qualified jobs in the region so that structural change from extractive activities to sustainable activities can be sparked.