Birdwatching

FLIGHTLESS GREBES ?

Conservation organisations and civil society groups have gathered in the city of JUNIN, in the Peruvian Andes, to demand action to reverse the deteriorating condition of lake JUNIN (lake Chinchaycocha), the second largest lake in the Peruvian Andes and home to the Critically Endangered JUNIN GREBE (Podiceps taczanowskll)

During the first half of the 20th century, this flichtless grebe was described as abundant. Declines followed deterioration in water quality due ro pollution from mining, and water abstraction for a hydroelectric plant. The Population is now estimared at 100 to 300 individuals.


As a consequence the groups have adopted the JUNIN Grebe as the symbol of wetland conservation in the high Andes. Lake JUNIN was declared a national reserve in 1974, and a RAMSAR site in 1997, but conditions in and around the lake continued to deteriorate, in 2002, following pressure from lakeside communities and conservationists, the Peruvian government passed a emergency law to protect the lake, control and clean up pollution, and reduce water abstraction.

The area has great potential for development through tourism, Peru's tourist agency, is working to increase the number of birding visitors, which currently stands at less than 300 a year.....