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One of Ecuador's largest reserves, the Reserva Faunistica Cuyabeno (full name, Reserva de Produccion de Fauna Cuyabeno) encompasses over 6000 square kilometres of rainforest, protecting the Rio Cuyabeno basin and much of the watershed of the lower Rio Aguarico as far as the Peruvian border. Encompassing areas with species that survived the last ice age, Cuyabeno boasts great biodiversity and harbours a staggering 228 tree species per hectare; for the same area in a British forest, you'd be struggling to count ten. Birdlife is abundant with 494 recorded species, a number that continues to grow. The reserve also contains a huge network of lakes and lagoons, including fourteen major interconnected bodies of water and large areas of inundated forest. There are two main black-water lake systems: the Cuyabeno Lakes , including Laguna Cuyabeno, Laguna Grande and Lagartococha , at the eastern end of the reserve bordering Peru. Black-water rivers typically form where there is little soil sediment and generally originate in the Amazon basin itself; the water takes on a dark tea-like colour from the vegetable humus that falls into it, which also makes it very acidic and rich in tannins. Some people come to the reserve specifically to see its aquatic wildlife , such as pink freshwater dolphins, turtles, black caiman, anaconda, manatee, giant otters, countless colourful frogs and toads and 450 species of fish. The boundaries of the reserve have changed since its creation in 1979, particularly following major incursions by oil companies and settlers into the western areas around Tarapoa, Cuyabeno town and Sansahuari. The governments of the time largely ignored this destruction and pollution, but in 1991, after considerable pressure from international agencies and CONAIE (Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador), a vast tract of land on the eastern side was added in compensation to displaced peoples, almost tripling the size of the reserve. It's now less accessible to colonizers and far better protected by politically active indigenous communities, yet oil extraction is still causing problems through toxic waste discharges and spills which have drained into the Cuyabeno basin. There are two main access points to the reserve, the first where the road crosses the Rio Cuyabeno, beyond Tarapoa, from where the river can be navigated down to the Laguna Cuyabeno and the other main lakes. The second is by canoe on the Rio Aguarico, which can be navigated from Lago Agrio to the lowest parts of the reserve, but is more commonly joined at Chiritza, about 50km east by road. Visiting the reserve independently is not recommended, and many agencies in Quito and Lago Agrio offer guided tours of four, five or eight days; shorter tours are based around the lakes, while longer ones go to the eastern reaches around the Rio Aguarico or Rio Lagartococha. Most people book in Quito, though if the operator has an office in Lago you can often join an existing tour there and may even get a discount. Indigenous - community stays are becoming a growing force in the region . Note that transport to Lago Agrio from Quito and the reserve entrance fee ($20 in the July to Sept high season, $15 for the rest of the year) aren't always included in the price of a tour.
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