Cocha Cashu Biological Station
Cocha Cashu Biological Station (EBCC) is a tropical ecological research station in Peru's Manu National Park. It is one of the best-studied sites in the Amazon. Along with La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama, Cocha Cashu is one of the best-studied research sites in the tropics. However, unlike La Selva or STRI, Cocha Cashu is in an area virtually unimpacted by humans, surrounded by millions of hectares of virgin forest, and thus provides critical insights into the organisms and processes found in a healthy, natural tropical rainforest.
The station is situated on the shores of an oxbow lake, from which it takes its name. "Cocha" is the Quechua word for lake, and "Cashu" is derived from the English word "cashew", referring to the arcing shape of the lake.
History
The Cocha Cashu Biological Station was established in the 1960s by German researchers studying black caiman. Because it is within Manu National Park, the station is officially owned and regulated by INRENA, Peru's National Natural Resources Institute. The station has been operated by John Terborgh, an environmental science professor at Duke University, since the early 1980s
Facilities
The rustic station consists of only a few thatched roofed buildings clustered in two small clearings. There are no dormitory or housing facilities, all researchers, staff, and visitors stay in tents in the surrounding forest. Additionally, there are no fixed plumbing systems. Toilets consist of a pair of pit latrines. Water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and washing clothes is pumped from the lake.
Access
Cocha Cashu is only accessible by boat or float plane. The nearest roads reach the towns of Shintuya and Atalaya, two days away by boat. Flights to Boca Manu still require a day-long boat ride up the Manu River to reach the station.
Dangers and Hazards
The many hazards of the Amazonian rainforest are well-publicized, including piranhas, anacondas, caimans, jaguars, pumas, peccaries, electric eels, stingrays, numerous poisonous snakes, insects, scorpions, spiders, plants, and other dangers. However, researchers at the station have interacted closely with the plants and animals of the rainforest for decades with very few negative encounters.
One notable exception occurred on April 27, 2000, when Francis J. Bossuyt disappeared while bathing in the lake. He was never found, and presumed dead, perhaps killed by a caiman. In the years since, a memorial in his name was established at the station, and more researchers and other visitors have chosen to use buckets or pumped water to bathe instead.
Published research
See Cocha Cashu Bibliography for a list of over 500 articles, books, and other publications resulting directly from field research conducted at Cocha Cashu.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Cocha Cashu Biological Station
