CICRA in 60 seconds

The Los Amigos Biological Station -- known by its Spanish acronym CICRA -- is our research center in lowland Amazonian forest at the base of Peru's southern Andes. CICRA was built on the conviction that the greatest forest on Earth deserves the best research centers in the world. Picture a Scripps Oceanographic Institute for the Amazon and you'll have an idea of what we're aiming for: a large-scale, high-volume, high-tech field station capable of supercharging science and training in Amazonian wilderness.

Established in 2000, Los Amigos is managed by ACCA in coordination with the neighboring 145,918-ha Los Amigos Conservation Concession. The station sits on a high terrace between the Madre de Dios and Los Amigos rivers and provides easy access to a variety of forest types and aquatic habitats. With capacity for 60 visitors, the installations include 250 m2 of laboratories and offices, >50 km of trails, a digital herbarium, a scientific library of >500 volumes, three 60-m radio towers, a landing strip, internet access and two satellite stations 3 and 21 km away. Since 2003 our grants program has brought >300 scientists to Los Amigos. CICRA also offers several field courses each year in partnership with the Amazonian Center for Environmental Education and Research (ACEER).