Word: mil
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Quince Mil sits at a strategic point on one of the final legs of a new highway that will link Peru's Pacific coast to Sao Paulo on Brazil's southern Atlantic coast. A few years ago it would take a week to get from Cuzco, in the Andes, to Quince Mil, with the road reaching elevations of 14,000 feet and descending fast into thick, tropical forest. The same route, now being paved by a Brazilian construction company, will take around six hours when the road is finished. "The road means radical change for the population...
...Quince Mil is doing its part to get ready. The number of boarding houses - mainly rooms crafted of plywood and plastic sheets - has jumped from two to more than 30 and the residents say there has been an explosion in restaurants, bars and small shops as folks get ready for the highway, instead of dirt road, traffic. The population has more than doubled since the last census in 2007, when there were fewer than 1,000 people in the town...
While pleased with the highway, Samanez is worried that it could spark the destruction of the area's pristine forests because of gold found in rivers. There are already more than 100 requests for mining concessions around Quince Mil (five have been formally granted) and with gold prices above $1,000 an ounce a gold rush is already on in the nearby Madre de Dios state. Samanez is hoping the state creates a protected in nearby forests that would curb mining, logging and cattle farming. (See more about Peru...
...scientists working in the zone share Samanez's concern and believe that Quince Mil could be put on the map for its environmental potential. "This is a biological hotspot. There is so much out there just waiting to be identified," says John Janovec, a botanist from the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. He sees tourists coming down to gawk at birds, tropical flowers and brilliantly colored butterflies...
...than an expert on the nutmeg tree, is constantly darting about as he coordinates the Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Project that has documented new species of bugs, birds and plants. He has a revolving door program that continuously brings in other specialists. In early November he was sharing Quince Mil with Russ Van Horn, a leading expert in bears from the San Diego Zoo, and Eric Christenson, a renowned botanist from Florida specializing in orchids. Their days begin at 4 a.m. and extend late into the night. Christenson has already identified orchids not known to exist in Peru...