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Third-round winnersMaking a park from scratch |
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Two women, one of them in Peru and the other at Chicago's celebrated Field Museum of National History, knew that the region of Peru known as Cordillera Azul was a biological treasure that needed saving. The park is a place of lowland rain forest, jagged peaks, rounded mesas, abundant mammals, birds, and fish life, and very few human inhabitants. Although the area had long been known as a biologically unique area, its future was uncertain; places that are biological wonders, whether they are in Latin America or anywhere else, are invariably also the favorites of foresters and miners and others who make their livings by extracting natural resources. Lily O. Rodriguez and Debra K. Moskovits knew that the place must be saved. So they organized expeditions to collect scientific data, which they presented to policy makers as proof that the area should be preserved. Then they packed national officials into a helicopter for an aerial view of the 5,225-square-mile site. Their argument was convincing. As a result, the government designated much of the park as a Zona Reservada, protected from exploitation. Lily Rodriguez is now program director of the national park, and Debra Moskovits is director of environmental and conservation programs at the Field Museum.¤ |
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