Our Green PearlsⓇ partner Inkaterra Reserva Amazónica is located in the Amazon Rainforest in Peru and has shared some interesting facts you should know before your trip. IMAGE ⒸInkaterra Reserva Amazónica

Insider Information about the Amazon Rainforest

Every year, on July 22nd, the world celebrates World Rainforest Day to raise awareness of this wonderful natural heritage. On the occasion of Rainforest Day 2023, we would like to share some information about the Amazon in Peru.

#1: Nine countries share the Amazon

The Amazon covers 9 countries in South America. They are: Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname. Peru’s territory is 61 percent covered by the Amazon-Area.

#2: Almost no sun reaches the rainforest floor

It is estimated that there are about 390 billion trees in the Amazon rainforest. It is interesting to note that less than 1 percent of the sunlight reaches the forest floor in this dense jungle! That means: many areas are almost in darkness.

#3: The Amazon was the “green hell” for the Spanish conquistadors

The first Europeans in the Amazon were the Spanish. They arrived in the rainforest around 1500 and faced so many difficulties that they called it the “Green Hell”. As the Inkaterra guides tell us, historians believe that malaria was their biggest problem – but the Spaniards blamed it on the fog, not the mosquitoes.

#4: Thousands of years of human history

The rainforest was inhabited long before the conquistadors arrived. Today’s researchers believe that the first settlements in the Amazon existed as early as 39,000 years ago. Among the early peoples were the famous Incas, whose history and historical excavations are also part of Inkaterra’s projects. Today, only 9 percent of the inhabitants of the Amazon Rainforest are indigenous.

#5: Home of medicinal plants

Inkaterra’s “field station” also focuses on various medicinal plants of the Amazon. Amazing plants grow here that are said to have healing properties for everything from fever to snake bites. The Amazonian plants are also of interest for research and may be used in the future to treat cancer or Parkinson’s disease.