Located to the east of the eastern Andes mountain range, it covers part of the departments of Cusco and Madre de Dios.
It can be reached by air (30 minutes by plane) or by land (via the Pucartambo, Patria, K'osñipata route). It is most advisable to take the organized and authorized services of a specialized agency.
It is the only place in the world where three distinct ecosystems are protected: the puna, a high-altitude area with sparse vegetation, similar to the tundra, where a type of yellowish grass called ichu grows, dotted with deep blue lakes and populated by flat-eared, hairy llamas; the cloud forest, a world of mystery always bathed in intense mists and populated by wild cocks of intense and striking purple, spectacled bears, and abundant ferns that hang from the trees like endless and dense walls; and the lowland tropical rainforest, populated by an infinity of huge black caimans, river wolves or giant otters, thirteen different species of monkey, and more than a thousand different varieties of birds (10% of those in the whole world). In the higher areas, the temperature ranges between 3ºC and 6ºC, in the lower part the annual average is approximately 24ºC.
The Manu Biosphere Reserve has always enjoyed some protection thanks to its remote location and the presence of indigenous tribes. Currently, four distinct ethnic groups inhabit Manu, two of which are still isolated from any contact with civilization, in a protected territory of 1,716,295.22 hectares. Equivalent in size to half of Switzerland, Manu is probably the most species-rich protected area on the planet.
The great variation in altitude levels allows the existence of a wide variety of species and forms of plants, estimated to be between 2000 to 5000 species of flowering plants. For reference, in the cloud forest, 179 species of orchids have been recorded.
The great diversity of ecosystems has allowed the development of one of the largest showcases of fauna diversity in the world. Manu National Park is home to a wide variety of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, as well as invertebrates. In mammals, 200 species have been identified (around 40% of all mammals in Peru). Birds constitute a hugely important and admirably varied population that exceeds 1000 species.
The basins of the Alto Madre de Dios and Manu rivers are traditional settlement areas for various indigenous groups: the Matsiguenka, Yora, Yine, Harakmbut, Maschco-Piro, and Amaguancas, which belong to different linguistic families. The vast majority of them are organized into native communities; others live in voluntary isolation, apparently rejecting all contact with modern society. In the Andean area, there are peasant communities of Quechua origin.
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