To Conserve the Pink River Dolphin
and Its Habitat and to
Visit the Dolphins’ World

The conservation emergency in the Amazon has grown even more urgent since this book was first published. One-fifth of the entire Amazon has now been destroyed.

In Brazil, within whose borders most of the Amazon resides, between May 2000 and August 2005, a record 50,950 square miles of forest was felled—an area larger than Greece. A shrinking Amazon, converted increasingly to the demands of agribusiness, could dramatically speed dangerous global climate change, as its greenhouse gas–absorbing powers are reduced when more trees are felled.

The picture is better in Peru. Largely due to protected areas—which are 18 times more effective at reducing deforestation than unprotected areas—deforestation rates in Peru now are among the lowest in tropical countries, according to a study by the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology published in 2007. Still, that study, based on satellite surveys, found that between 1999 and 2005, forest was being destroyed at a rate of 249 square miles per year, with another yearly 244 square miles of forest disturbed, while not destroyed, each year.

There is still hope for the Amazon rainforest. In 2007, the Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo community reserve in Peru, where much of the narrative in this book takes place, was significantly enlarged, thanks largely to the efforts of Rainforest Conservation Fund. (The enlarged reserve—now more than 1 million acres—has been renamed Area de Conservation Regional Comunal Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo, reflecting enhanced legal protection.) Your donation to RCF directly benefits its people, waters, and animals. So strongly do I support its work that I joined its board of directors. Find out more from the webpage: www.rainforestconservation.org

Donations may be sent to:

Rainforest Conservation Fund
2038 North Clark Street, Suite 233
Chicago, IL 60614
E-mail: rcf@interaccess.com

Amazon Rainforest Conservation Society is a Chicago-based not-for-profit organization that works exclusively with Peruvian communities near the 1,000,000-acre Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo conservation area. ARCS works closely with other organizations, including RCF, coordinating a variety of complimentary programs including family planning, conservation education, vigilance, and sustainable management. To send a contribution to ARCS, write:

Amazon Rainforest Conservation Society
123 South Hudson Street
Westmont, IL 60559
E-mail: cannafrog@msn.com

Much of the early dolphin observations recorded in this book took place at Amazonia Expeditions’ lodge near the Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo Community Reserve. The company runs a number of expeditions, guided by an ecologically and culturally sensitive philosophy and an all-Peruvian staff, some of whom you have met in these pages. The company supports RCF with generous, regular donations. To arrange a trip, you may contact:

Amazonia Expeditions
18500 Gulf Boulevard, No. 201
Indian Shores, FL 33785
Tel: 800-262-9669
E-mail: Paul.Beaver@gte.net

The Amazon Conservation Team, founded by ethnobotanist Dr. Mark Plotkin, works to preserve local knowledge of plants, and promotes shamanic study in the Amazon to conserve traditional knowledge and natural habitats. You can become a member by writing to:

Amazon Conservation Team?
4211 North Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203
You can visit its Web site at: www.amazonteam.org

There are now opportunities for tourists to visit Mamirauá, Brazil’s first sustainable development reserve and site of the Brazilian dolphin and manatee studies featured in this book. Proceeds from tourism benefit Projecto Mamirauá. To arrange to visit the reserve, visit the webpage at:

www.mamiraua.org.br
(though it is in Portuguese, note that you can automatically
translate to English with a click)
Arrange a visit to the reserve at:
ecotourism@mamiraua.org.br

Earthwatch, a nonprofit organization that pairs interested laymen with field scientists needing research assistance, offers several projects in the Amazon for paying volunteers. For more information, contact:

Earthwatch Institute
680 Mount Auburn Street
P.O. Box 9104
Watertown, MA 02471
Tel: 800-776-0188
E-mail: info@earthwatch.org
Web site: www.earthwatch.org