For Immediate Release Contact: Greg Borzo (312) 665-7100 gborzo@fieldmuseum.org Field Museum Plays Vital Role In Creation of Huge New Park Friday, June 1, 2001 CHICAGO – The Peruvian government on May 22, 2001, created a 5,225-square-mile national park, thereby protecting a pristine area of Andean rainforest that is slightly bigger than Connecticut, or 150% the size of Yellowstone National Park. Last year, the Field Museum, the Asociación Peruana para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (APECO) and other scientists conducted a rapid biological inventory (RBI) that led to creation of the park. The RBI documented the extraordinary biodiversity of the northern Cordillera Azul mountain range, where the new park is located. The Parque Nacional Cordillera Azul sits in one of the last large tracts of virgin rainforest still undeveloped and largely uninhabited. As such, its creation represents a great victory for conservation and the natural environment. "This mountain range on the east side of the Peruvian Andes is huge, wild and breathtaking," says Debra Moskovits, PhD, director of The Field Museum’s Environmental and Conservation Programs. "With our Peruvian partner, APECO, our rapid biological inventory determined that the Cordillera Azul still offers the rare opportunity to act before habitat fragmentation and degradation forever transform the landscape." In 1999, APECO spearheaded an initiative to establish a national park in the Cordillera Azul mountains. To support that effort, Field Museum scientists and colleagues launched this RBI with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The RBI team drew together U.S. and Peruvian experts from: The Field Museum; APECO; the Museum of Natural History at the University of San Marcos in Lima; and the Museum of Natural Sciences at Louisiana State University. The scientists surveyed vascular plants, fishes, reptiles, amphibians, birds and large mammals. What they found was spectacular, including the identification of at least 28 new plant and animal species. continue