Tingana Ecological Reserve, Peru

Introduction to Tingana Ecological Reserve 

Tingana is a Conservation Concession where local villagers have formed an association to conserve the last wetlands of the Alto Mayo and the habitat of a great variety of native flora and fauna. it is located in the province of Moyobamba in the San Martin region.

The local people, who live around the Tingana Ecological Reserve, are people who are mainly engaged in local agriculture and tourism, still keeping alive their customs and local knowledge of this area of the Peruvian high jungle. The local people are characterized by their kindness and the vast knowledge about the benefits of living surrounded by nature. They are very cheerful, friendly and welcoming people, where everyone has an important role in the organization, in which they work with the sole objective of conserving the rainforests, through environmentally friendly activities such as tourism and sustainable agriculture, among others. 

The Tingana Ecological Reserve is the pioneer in community tourism in the San Martin region and one of the first at the national level. For this reason, the people who are part of this association are very proud of the recognition of their conservation work, sharing their traditional knowledge and awareness of an environmentally friendly lifestyle to each of the visitors who choose to visit Tingana. 

Tingana is considered an ecological paradise because of its great biodiversity. In this natural refuge you can find a great number of mammals; giant otters, different species of monkeys, pelejo, achuni, anteaters, as well as bird (tarahui, fluterillo, toucan, manacaraco, heron)and fish species (shirui, tilapia, mojarra, atinga, carachama). Visitors who love wildlife will be impressed with what this place has to offer, there is also a great variety of flora (mainly aguajales and renacales and a variety of ferns, lianas, orchids, bromeliads. It really could be mistaken for Paradise.

Cultural information

The inhabitants of Tingana say that the singular name given to this charming place comes from the abundance of trees commonly called by the villagers "Choloques", whose hard, round fruit is small, black, and inedible. These ‘fruits’ were used in the past by children to play "bolichas", from there comes the word "tingar"  meaning the little balls. When the children played, the grandmothers used to say to the children "tinga sonito con ganas" "tinga con ganas", since then this place is called Tingana.

Top tips for your stay in Tingana Ecological Reserve

The Tingana Ecological Reserve is a temporarily flooded forest, which drains the Avisado River, with two distinct seasons during the year: the wet season, from November to May, and the dry season, from June to October.

In the wet season the canoe ride is much better because visitors can get through in a more accessible way, and in the dry season, you can walk into the forest and renacales.

There are two types of tours: full day, which consists only of the canoe ride and a visit to the farms, or the 2 days and 1 night tour, where you can do all the activities available.