Rodrigo Carbajal and his great dream of monitoring wildlife

In 2022, Rodrigo Carbajal Mas’s project was one of the winners of the “Conservamos por Naturaleza – Carlos Ponce del Prado 2022” grant. The project consisted of recording and identifying as many wildlife species as possible in the Potsom Posho’ll Private Conservation Area (ACP), the third to be recognized in the Pasco region and where this young environmental engineer and member of the Amazonia Regenerativa Ecological Collective (CEARE) works as an administrator.

The first step in implementing the project was to install six camera traps in a 20-hectare area in Alto Iscozacín in the district of Palcazú (Oxapampa). These cameras made it possible to monitor species such as the tapir or sachavaca, the armadillo, the jaguar, the puma, sloths, the choro monkey, the maquisapa, the white machín, the añuje, among others. Forest engineer Carolina Llerena, president of CEARE and who also administers Potsom Posho’l, was part of this work.

According to Carbajal himself, winning the Conservamos por Naturaleza grant made it possible to finance these cameras, cover the cost of traveling to install them in various areas of the ACP, and everything else involved in this approximately six-month field project. “With this, we will be able to continue contributing to the study and protection of the biodiversity we conserve,” says Rodrigo, also a member of the second generation of Aceleradores por Naturaleza (Accelerators for Nature), an SPDA course that encourages young people to propose solutions to environmental problems in the region.

Thanks to his work, Rodrigo Carbajal was able to complete his project and thus contribute to the conservation of wildlife in a primary forest area that also serves other functions, such as supplying water to various populations in the area due to the presence of springs that flow down the ravine.

In addition to his work at ACP Potsom Posho’ll, Rodrigo has experience installing biodigesters in rural areas. A graduate of the National Agrarian University of La Molina, Carbajal has also worked with native communities and towns on the Peruvian coast in the field of audiovisual communication, and is an enthusiastic activist in all matters related to forest conservation and restoration.