Madre de Dios River
Encyclopedia
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
vian region
Madre de Dios Region
Madre de Dios is a region in southeastern Peru, bordering Brazil, Bolivia and the Peruvian regions of Puno, Cusco and Ucayali. Its capital is the city of Puerto Maldonado. The name of the region is a very common Spanish language designation for the Virgin Mary, literally meaning Mother of...
it runs through, then becomes the Beni River
Beni River
The Beni River is a river in the north of Bolivia.It rises north of La Paz and flows northeast through the pampas. One of the tributary rivers is Tuichi River in the Madidi National Park. Tuichi River joins the Beni River upstream from the town Rurrenabaque. South of Rurrenabaque, Río Beni runs...
in Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
and then turns northward into Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, where it is called the Madeira River
Madeira River
The Madeira River is a major waterway in South America, approximately 3,250 km miles long The Madeira is the biggest tributary of the Amazon...
. The Madeira is a tributary to the Amazon River
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
.
The Madre de Dios is an important waterway for the department of Madre de Dios
Madre de Dios
Madre de Dios is a fairly common Spanish designation for the Virgin Mary, literally meaning "mother of God". It can refer to:-Places:* Madre de Dios Island, Chile* Madre de Dios Mine, Chile* Madre de Dios Province, Bolivia* Madre de Dios Region, Peru...
, particularly Puerto Maldonado
Puerto Maldonado
Puerto Maldonado is a city in Southeastern Peru in the Amazon forest west of the Bolivian border on the confluence of the Tambopata and Madre de Dios River, a tributary of the Amazon River. It is the capital of the Madre de Dios Region....
, the largest town in the area, and the capital of the department. Mango
Mango
The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
farming and Gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
are among the many industries on its beaches. Other important industries the Madre de Dios provides are selective logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
and farming, both of which are serious environmental problems. Along the length of the river there are several national parks and reserves, notably Tambopata-Candamo National Park
Tambopata-Candamo
Tambopata-Candamo is a nature reserve in the Peruvian Amazon Basin south of the Madre de Dios River in Tambopata Province's Inambari and Tambopata districts...
, Manu National Park
Manú National Park
Manú National Park is a biosphere reserve located in Madre de Dios and Paucartambo, Cusco. Before becoming an area protected by the Peruvian government, the Manú National Park was conserved thanks to its inaccessibility. The park remains fairly inaccessible by road to this day. In 1977, UNESCO...
(also known as Manu Biosphere Reserve
Biosphere reserve
The Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO was established in 1971 to promote interdisciplinary approaches to management, research and education in ecosystem conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.-Development:...
) and Bahuaja-Sonene National Park
Bahuaja-Sonene National Park
The Bahuaja-Sonene National Park is located in south-eastern Peru. It contains the tropical forests and tropical foothills of Puno, dwarf forests, and the Heath Pampas. It was created in July 1996 out of the Tambopata-Candamo Reserved Zone and expanded on Sept...
.
Hydrography
The Madre de Dios serves as the largest watershedDrainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
in the area, as part of the vast Amazon River
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
watershed. The river's main tributaries include the Chivile, Blue, White, Inambari, Tambopata
Tambopata River
The Tambopata River in the Madre de Dios Region flows from the eastern slope of the Andes along the border of the Puno Region to the Madre de Dios River at the capital city of Puerto Maldonado. The river flows through the Tambopata National Reserve....
and Colorado rivers.
External links
- Madre de Dios Watershed at NASA Earth ObservatoryNASA Earth ObservatoryNASA Earth Observatory is an online publishing outlet for NASA which was created in 1999. It is the principal source of satellite imagery and other scientific information pertaining to the climate and the environment which are being provided by NASA for consumption by the general public...
- Stroud Water Research Center Project in Madre de Dios, Peru