Peru

Manu National Park

WHS Score 3.74
rate
Votes 20 Average 4.28
Show votes
Votes for Manu National Park

2.5

  • Joyce van Soest

3.0

  • Wojciech Fedoruk

3.5

  • Frederik Dawson

4.0

  • Bamse
  • emvcaest
  • Philipp Peterer
  • Randi Thomsen
  • Timothy C Easton
  • Zoë Sheng

4.5

  • Daniel Gabi
  • Els Slots
  • Richard Stone
  • Svein Elias
  • Timonator

5.0

  • Dan1306
  • Dgjohansson
  • Geert Luiken
  • Little Lauren Travels
  • Palimpsesto
  • Waxwing

Manú National Park has a biodiversity that rarely can be found in any other place on Earth.

The isolated park comprises the catchment basin of the Manu River and part of that of the Alto Madre de Dios River. It holds an extremely broad range of ecosystems, resulting in high diversity and a high degree of endemism. Virtually all flora and fauna species are present in abundant numbers: more than 15,000 species of plants are found in Manú, up to 250 varieties of trees have been found in a single hectare and the park is home to over 800 species of birds. Furthermore, it’s a refuge for globally threatened mammal species such as Giant Otter, Giant Anteater, Ocelot and Jaguar.

Community Perspective: Philipp has well-explained the options for visiting; be aware that it at least takes a tour of multiple days. If you can afford it, go for a tour into the Reserved Zone, as described by Els. Memorable will be the enormous variety of trees, plants and monkeys.

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Manu National Park (ID: 402)
Country
Peru
Status
Inscribed 1987 Site history
History of Manu National Park
1987: Inscribed
Inscribed
WHS Type
Natural
Criteria
  • ix
  • x
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources
News Article

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Natural landscape: Forest
Travel Information
Guided Tour Only
Guided Tour Only
Manu NP can (only) be reached by joining a tour from Cusco.
Recent Connections
View all (33) .
Connections of Manu National Park
Individual People
Geography
  • Amazon Basin
    The Manu is a tributary to the 1,347 km long Madre de Dios River, which downriver joins the Madeira River, and ultimately the Amazon River. (wiki)
  • Andes
    The Park lies in the southeastern Peruvian Andes (UNEP-WCMC)
Ecology
Damaged
  • Threatened by Oil and Gas Exploration
    Potential Threat: "Oil and gas exploration and extraction is occurring south of the site. The Camisea gas field, one of the largest energy projects in Peru, is located in a remote area in the immediate vicinity of the site. Interest in a possible expansion despite National Park and World Heritage Site status has been repeatedly expressed which would carry significant risks to the site and the indigenous populations that inhabit it." (IUCN Outlook 2020)
World Heritage Process
  • Perfect Inscriptions
    1987
  • Minor modifications after inscription
    2009: "rationalize the boundaries of the World Heritage property so that they would coincide with the boundaries of Manu National Park, and not just a portion of it. The area is near the village of Boca Manú and the communities and settlements in the Upper Madre de Dios.""
Human Activity
  • Rubber
    "In 1839, interest in exploring Manú National Park area increased when Charles Goodyear sparked a rubber boom after producing the first heat resistant rubber. His discovery triggered a massive demand for rubber, and rubber trees in Manú National Park region were targeted to meet the need. Another rubber baron Carlos Fitzgerald created the Fitzgerald pass across the Madre de Dios River for rubber transportation. In 1880, about 8000 tons of rubber was exported from Peru and by 1900 exports had climbed to 27,000 tons. Rapid deforestation and competition from South East Asia collapsed the Manú National Park rubber industry in 1914"

    See www.worldatlas.com

  • Natural sites with indigenous human population
    Permanent human habitation is restricted to several small communities of the Matsigenga Amazonian tribal group, largely along the Manú river or one of its main tributaries.
  • Cacao
    The plant Theobroma cacao is found there (unesco website)
WHS on Other Lists
Visiting conditions
WHS Names
  • Named after a River
    "The Manú is a river in southeastern Peru. It runs down the eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains into the Amazon Basin. It runs through what is now protected as the Manú NP..... is a tributary to the Madre de Dios River, which downriver joins the Madeira River, and ultimately the Amazon River."
News
telegraph.co.uk 09/25/2015
Manu NP tourists held overnight by…
news.mongabay.com 10/30/2014
'River wolves' recover in Manu Nat…
scoop.co.nz 02/12/2013
Secret plans for gas exploration i…

Community Reviews

Show full reviews
First published: 07/10/23.

Timonator

Manu National Park

Manu National Park (Inscribed)

Manu National Park by Timonator

I visited the reserved zone of Manu for 2 days and the trip from Cusco included in total 7 days/ 6 nights. The programme of most tour operators is similar so there is no need to describe it in detail here. You can just check the websites. We drove by transporter from Cusco to Atalaya and then by boat up to Casa Matchiguenka which is one of few of the current lodging options in the real WHS part/ core zone. We booked with Bonanza tours and the tour was operated by Amazon Wildlife Experience which is run by the brother of the owner of Bonanza. So it was the same as with Bonanza only that they laid acquired customers together. We were 8 tourists, one guide, one cook and either a driver or a captain and his boat assistant. The real price was 1290 USD p.P. but as we went to the office in Calle Suecia in Cusco end of August and were flexible and negotiated we could book the same tour for the 14th of September for 750 USD p.P.. Some in our group booked only 6 days and there was not much difference. You don´t miss out on anything only that after a long day you drive all the way back to Cusco instead of staying another night close to Atalaya port and some more bird and monkey watching in the cloud forest. Also a good option to save money. 
 
Maybe good to mention that we almost …

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First published: 01/07/19.

Philipp Peterer

Manu National Park

Manu National Park (Inscribed)

Manu National Park by Philipp Peterer

Visit: June 2019. Manu NP can (only) be reached by joining a tour from Cusco. I went on a 5 days tour to the Cultural Zone and focus on the different tours.

 

Zona Cultural vs Zona Reservada

Manu NP is huge, but only a relatively small part can be accessed. If you want to spend your tour mostly in the core zone, you need to book a trip to the reserved zone. The shortest tour I found was 6 days. The 5 days reserved zone tour Els did is no longer offered, as it was not profitable. Tours to the reserved zone include on each way an 8 hours bus ride to Atalaya port (half of the road unpaved) followed by an 8 hours boat ride to Boca a Manu, the entry point to the reserved zone. The flights to Boca a Manu are no longer available since 2012, so no short cuts possible at the moment. This also means that out of 6 days you will be using 3 just to get there and back. From what I heard animal sightings in the reserved zone are far more common. There are lodges inside the reserved zone, so you don’t have to sleep in a tent.

The cultural zone can be done in 3, 4 or 5 days tours. Driving from Cusco to Atalaya you will actually cross the core zone several times at the south western tip of the park (from where my picture …

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First published: 29/11/13.

Jarek Pokrzywnicki

Manu National Park

Manu National Park (Inscribed)

Manu National Park by Jarek Pokrzywnicki

Only a 3 days trip organized from Cuzco through Manu Peru Amazon (November 2013). Not enough to see the real jungle but least enough to have impression how it is in Amazonia.

Road from Cuzco to Salvacion (via Paucartambo) crosses National Park borders at Acjanaco (there are signs of NP) and than continues to Pilcopata (and Salvacion) within so-called Cultural Zone of Manu (Zona de Amortiguamiento).

Even being aware of the lenghth of stay it is one of best jungle experience so far - variety (and diversity) of animals and plants to be observed there is enormous, I truelly recommend to go there for longer period (and probaly go further north to Manu River and so-called Zona Experimental).

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First published: 29/08/11.

Anonymous

Manu National Park

Manu National Park (Inscribed)

Manu National Park by Els Slots

I have been in the Manu National Park and must say is for sure one of the best places in the world to be visited. Due to the non easy access way, nature there remainded more untouched than in others Amazon reservations, that is mainly the reason why is easier to spot mammals and birds. Insekts species we saw there are unbeliveble, those that somebody could not imagine that exist.

Our guide was so knowledge and patience showing us useful plants, vines and teaching us how to live in the Amazon, we made fire and we bath us in beutiful rivers every day.

I stay volunteering on a campsite, helping to develope a project that protect the Cultural Zone of the Manu National Park, during this month I learnt a lot and I would never forget this experience.

For those interested you can visit the web page:

www.manuperuamazon.com

They offer affordable options to visit the Park

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First published: 25/05/11.

Els Slots

Manu National Park

Manu National Park (Inscribed)

Manu National Park by Els Slots

I am the first to write a review about this WHS - no wonder since it sees only ca. 2500 visitors a year. The Reserved Zone of Manu National Park can be reached from Cuzco with a couple of tour companies. I went there on a 5-day tour with the well-organized and recommended Pantiacolla Tours. It is possible to fly in and out (there´s a tiny grass airstrip at the Yuni Lodge), but I choose to drive down from Cuzco for 1.5 days through the cloud forest until the port of Atalaya at the Madre de Dios River. This way you´ll see the landscape change dramatically, and there are already plenty of birds to see along the road including the Andean cock-of-the-rock and the quetzal.

The tour company had put "binoculars" at the no. 1 spot of the packing list. And indeed they proved to be essential, as the wildlife here is not easy to see with the naked eye. The rainforest is very thick, and many of the species have disguising colours.

We navigated the Manu River for hours, always being the only ones on the river. Both white and black caiman are a common sight here, lying around at the river's characteristic beaches. We saw one black caiman about 4 meters long. Also, we happened upon two tapirs scrambling upon the river bank. Tapir is a rare sighting, even scarcer than the jaguar. Unfortunately, we missed out on the latter one during this trip.

On …

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