Would you like to do Fieldwork in the Amazon this
summer?
GPY 499 Independent Research (3 hrs).
Summer B, 2008.
For more information and application requirements,
contact Professor Jim Penn pennji@gvsu.edu
Tropical agriculture and forestry in the Peruvian
Amazon: A fieldwork experience.
GPY 499 Independent Research
Summer Session (B) 2008
3 hr course (3 credits)
This course is composed of three main parts in a six week period: 1. Study and preparation for 2
weeks at the GVSU Allendale campus. 2. A 3 week field experience in the Peruvian Amazon. 3.
Data analysis and preparation of oral presentations that will be given at the GVSU Allendale
campus.
First, we will examine the research and publications of several authors that work in the lowland
forests of northeastern Peruvian Amazon. Most of the studies are classic works that focus on
swidden-fallow agroforestry systems, non-timber forest resources and their products, and the
cultural diversity and adaptation of ribereño and native societies to different environments and
environmental change. Next, we will go to Peru (about 80 miles from the city of Iquitos) and
examine these agroforestry systems and forest resources as we conduct fieldwork in support of
current field research carried out by Dr. Penn and his Peruvian and North American colleagues.
The work will also support an agroforestry project that cultivates species of high ecological and
economic value (Proyecto Aguaje) with farmers in the rainforest. Fieldwork will incorporate
basic crop diversity and forest inventories, as we learn first hand about the actual composition,
structure and environmental and economic conditions of these agroforestry systems and
oligarchic forests of reputedly high economic value. The third phase of the course will be the data
analysis, written assignment and preparation of student presentations (a GPY 499 requirement) on
the lessons we have learned from the field course and how that compares to or supports the
findings in the literature.
Literature and studies in Spanish will be available for students, but you will not be required to
speak or read Spanish. However, you will all learn a large number of vernacular terms for the
forests, fields, crop, forest and animal species, landforms and local customs. This experience will
help prepare you for graduate school or other work in the tropics.
To register: Course seats are limited, and the nature of this work makes it necessary to evaluate
student’s preparedness for the course.
You must write a 1 page essay on exactly why you want to take this course and why you think
you will do well in the course. The essay must be turned in to me or sent to my e-mail
pennji@gvsu.edu
You must pick up the registration form for GPY 499 from Dr. Penn.
Please see me for a list of expected costs and materials needed for the course. I will assist you
with advice on travel arrangements, and we will try to travel together as a group. In Peru, we will
conduct most of the course on the Tahuayo River, about 80 miles from the city of Iquitos.
All students will be required to obtain travel insurance (see Padnos International Center or the
Registrar’s office) and a passport. You will also be required to sign a statement pledging good
behavior during the trip to Peru.
Readings:
Bodmer, R. E., J. W. Penn, P. E. Puertas, L. I. Moya and T. G. Fang. 1997. Linking Conservation
and Local People through Sustainable Use of Natural Resources: Community-Based
Management in the Peruvian Amazon. Pp. 315-358 In: Curtis H. Freese (ed.), Harvesting
Wild Species: Implications for Biodiversity Conservation. John Hopkins University
Press, Baltimore, MD.
Brightsmith, D. and A. Bravo. 2006. Ecology and management of nesting blue-and-yellow
macaws (Ara ararauna) in Mauritia palm swamps. Biodiversity and Conservation 15:
4271-4287
Coomes, O.T. 1998. Traditional peasant agriculture along a back water river in the Peruvian
Amazon. Revista Geografica 124:33-55.
Coomes, O.T. 1995. A century of rainforest use in western Amazonia: Lessons for extractionbased conservation of tropical forests. Forest and Conservation History 39(3): 108-119.
Denevan, W. and C. Padoch (eds.) 1988. Swidden-fallow agroforestry in the Peruvian Amazon,
Advances in Economic Botany, Volume 5.
Gilmore, M.P., W.H. Eshbaugh and A.M. Greenberg. 2002. The use, construction, and
importance of canoes among the Maijuna of the Peruvian Amazon. Economic Botany
56(1) 10-26
Miller, C. 2002. Fruit production of the ungurahua palm (Oenocarpus batau sbsp. Batau,
Arecaceae) in an indigenous managed reserve. Economic Botany 56(2) 165-176.
Padoch, C. 1988b. Aguaje (Mauritia flexuosa L. f.) in the Economy of Iquitos, Peru. Economic
Botany 6: 214-224.
Penn, J.W., Jr. 2006. The cultivation of camu camu (Myrciaria dubia): A tree planting programme
in the Peruvian Amazon. Forests, Trees and Livelihoods. 16(1): 85-101.
Penn, J., Van Sledright, M., Bertiz, G. and E. Soplin. 2008. Los aguajales y sus condiciones en el
Río Tahuayo: Aportes para el Plan Maestro del Area de Conservación Regional Comunal
Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo (ACRCTT). Submitted to PROCREL-Iquitos. June 24, 2008.
Peters, C.M., M. Balick, F. Kahn and A.B. Anderson. 1989. Oligarchic forests of economic
plants in Amazonia: Utilization and Conservation of an important tropical resource.
Conservation Biology 3(4): 341-349.
Vásquez, R. and A. H. Gentry. 1989. Use and misuse of forest-harvested fruits in the Iquitos
area. Conservation Biology 3(4): 1-12.