Sierra del Divisor National Park, Peru

The Sierra del Divisor region along the Peru-Brazil Border in the heart of the Amazon Basin, constitutes the world’s newest National Park, formed on November 8, 2015. It stretches from the deepest parts of the Amazon rainforest and into the foothills of the Andes Mountain range, forming one of the largest contiguous blocks of protected land in Latin America. The National Park encompasses a massive 1.3 million hectares —larger than Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks combined. Sierra del Divisor’s landscape is characterized by rugged geography and lowland volcanic mountains, the only such region in the Amazon, which is essentially very flat. The dramatic landscape is made up of waterfalls, dormant volcanic cones, wild rivers, remote lakes, jagged canyons and lush rainforest. The most striking feature of this region is “El Cono”, a dormant volcanic cone, and one of many scattered along the southern end of the mountain range. El Cono rises more than 1,600 feet above the plains of the Amazon rainforest surrounding it and is the symbol of Sierra del Divisor. El Cono,” an extinct volcanic cone, is the symbol of Sierra del Divisor. Photo credit: Diego Perez Due to its unique geological formations, Sierra del Divisor is home to an impressive number of endemic species that cannot be found anywhere else. But because the region is so remote that scientific study of the area didn’t happen until a few decades ago. In a 2005 survey, researchers found several dozen species in the area that are new to science entirely. Based upon these findings, researchers expect that future surveys will lead to the discovery of even more species. Sierra del Divisor is also home to several uncontacted indigenous tribes totaling 300 to 400 people, who live in isolation from the outside world.