On the 20^th of December we found a group of at least 8 yellow tailed woolly monkeys near La Esperanza. The authorities of La Esperanza contacted the owner of this land, and he is interested in protecting it for the monkeys. This land is connected to a communal area which the authorities have also offered to protect in the future.     We also saw the Andean night monkey (Aotus miconax) twice this month.

We had several visits this month, including Wagner Guzman from the Instituto de Investigacion de la Amazonia Peruana who gave a presentation to the authorities of the five communities. The presentation concentrated on the benefits to communities of preserving their natural resources and ways to help them manage them more sustainably.

Antonio Cervan Picon, an eco-tourism operator, also came to talk to the authorities about the possibility of developing tourism in the area. He will return to do a survey of tourism attractions in La Esperanza and may open an office to help develop tourism.

Ana Mariscal, an Ecuadorian botanist, visited the project for a week. She gave a talk about the importance of reforestation and the dangers of deforestation and gave examples from Ecuador. She also went to the forest with local guides to help identify the different tree species used in the area to make a list of local and scientific names.

The first tree nursery was built on the 22^nd of December in La Esperanza. About 30 people were involved in the cleaning, digging of the beds and fencing, but there is still a lot of work in filling the potting bags. As the schools are on vacation for the next 3 months we are planning to get the children to help in the nursery for a few days.

English lessons started on the 18th of December. There is a lot of interest, which is very pleasing. We also gave hot chocolate and Christmas cake to all our English students after our last lesson before Christmas.