The Royal Scottish Geographical Society

Reports from South American Expeditions

For further information and details of available documentation about any expedition listed below please click on the appropriate line: -

2001 - Brazil Expedition - Glasgow University Expedition Society *
2001 - World Challenge Expedition, Ecuador - Perth Academy
2001 - Yungas 2001, Bolivia - Universities of Glasgow and Oxford *
2000 - World Challenge Expedition, Northern Peru - Mary Erskine School, Edinburgh
1999 - Brazil Expedition - University of Glasgow *
1999 - Guyana '99 - Perth Academy
1998 - Peru Expedition - Harlaw Academy *
1998 - World Challenge Guyana Expedition - Mary Erskine School and Stewart Melville College
1998-99 - High Andes Snow Ablation Survey - University of Edinburgh *
1997 - Bolivian Forests - University of Aberdeen *
1997 - Project Guandera, Ecuador - University of Glasgow *
1997 - Fulcrum Challenge : Scotland to Paraguay - Young Enterprise Scotland *
1995 - Rural Bolivia *
1995 - Ecuador - The Borders Exploration Group *
1994 - Bolivia - University of Aberdeen *
1991 - Manu National Park, Peru - University of Edinburgh *
1990 - Riobamba, Chimborazo Province, Ecuador - University of Aberdeen *
1988 - Americas Expedition (see under Central America)
1985 - Ecuador - University of Aberdeen *
1981 - Peru - Trinity College, Glenalmond *
1973 - Chilean Patagonia - Joint Services Expedition *
1971-72 - The British Trans-Americas Expedition (see under Central America)

Expeditions supported by RSGS are indicated by an asterisk at the right-hand end of the heading *

Brazil Expedition 2001 - Glasgow University Expedition Society *

Objective

To study the relationships between biodiversity and land-use (including water-management issues) within the Rio Paraná floodplain wetlands of Southern Brazil, by collecting new field data ...

Documentation

Biodiversity and land-use interactions in the floodplain of the Upper Rio Paraná : Preliminary Report (14pp)
Biodiversity and land-use interactions in the floodplain of the Upper Rio Paraná : Final Report (34pp)

Ecuador 2001 - Perth Academy World Challenge Expeditions

Aims and Objectives

To complete a four-day acclimatisation trek on the Inca Trail;
To climb to the summit of Illiniza Norte, under summer conditions, at 5126m;
To explore the Amazon rain-forest in the Northern Oriente;
To visit the coastal area of Puerto Lopez;
To complete a community-based project;
To compile an expedition journal.

Documentation

Report (18pp) / by Jackie Yuill

Yungas 2001, Bolivia - Universities of Glasgow and Oxford *

Aims and Objectives

To carry-out comprehensive ornithological inventories within the Cocapata-Mosetenes Cordilleras;
To perform detailed herpetological inventories within the Cocapata-Mosetenes Cordilleras, and to provide a complete altitudinal distribution for each species;
To describe the levels of endemism and species-richness of key taxa of yungas flora, across an altitudinal gradient;
To establish the importance of the Cocapata-Mosetenes Cordilleras for the globally-threatened Horned Curassow Pauxi unicornis;
To compare arthropod diversity indices within four groups (spiders, cockroaches, dung-beetles, and tree-hoppers) across altitudinal gradients, and to create the first systematic collection of yungas insects.

Documentation

Project Report July-October 2001: Biological inventory and conservation assessment of the yungas forests of Cordilleras Cocapata and Mosetenes, Bolivia (73pp) / edited by Aidan Maccormick and Ross MacLeod, 2003;
CD-ROM of images, press-releases, and final report;
Web-site.

World Challenge Expedition, Northern Peru - Mary Erskine School, Edinburgh, 2000

Documentation

Presentation script : A journey of a lifetime (2pp)
Report (23pp)

University of Glasgow Brazil Expedition, 1999

Aim

To undertake a field survey programme to provide data for a Scottish-Brazilian research study (involving the Universities of Glasgow and Maringá) aiming to develop minimal linear models for prediction of changes in aquatic biodiversity in the threatened varzea (riverine floodplain) wetlands of the Rio Parana in southern Brazil.

Documentation

Preliminary Expedition Report, November 1999 (10pp) by K.J. Murphy [and others]

Guyana '99 - Perth Academy, 1999

Objectives

To participate in an Amerindian cultural exchange project, working with villagers in Surama;
To trek from the Essequibo River through tropical rain-forest and savannah to the village of Kato;
To explore Bartica and Fort Island, former Dutch outposts;
To complete a research programme on, firstly, traditional Amerindian communities, and, secondly, the perceived impact of the 20^th century in these remote areas, particularly the influence and impact of eco-tourism;
To compile an expedition diary, suitably illustrated and photo-resourced, so that presentations could be delivered on the expedition's return.

Documentation

Report (16pp)

Peru Expedition - Harlaw Academy, 1998 *

Aims

To develop team building and leadership skills by providing the opportunity to visit a developing country and experience a variety of different environments and lifestyles. The RSGS funded projects, based at Lares, Tambopata National Reserve and Lake Titicaca, allowed the students to make assessments on their physical surroundings, to describe the human environment, assess 20th Century influences and make comparisons on the ways of life between the project areas.

Documentation

Report: "A Study of Remote Peruvian Communities : Environment, Lifestyles, and 20^th Century Influences"

World Challenge Guyana Expedition - Mary Erskine School and Stewart Melville College, 1998

Main Aims

To experience: -

Life and travel in a developing country, one of the least developed;
Community and community-work in Amerindian villages;
The Rainforest and Kaieteur Falls.

Documentation

Report (22pp)

High Andes Snow Ablation Survey - University of Edinburgh, 1998-99 *

Objective

To study the ablation morphology of high altitude glaciers

Documentation

Expedition Report (59pp) by Javier G. Corripio
Web-site

Bolivian Forests - University of Aberdeen, 1997 *

Aims

To learn from and contribute to the work already being carried out by BOLFOR, the Bolivian Sustainable Forestry Management Project;
To widen our outlook on tropical biology / forestry / development work;
To gain hands-on scientific knowledge and practical skills;
To get an insight into development work within an NGO framework.

Documentation

Report (34pp)

Project Guandera, Ecuador - University of Glasgow, 1997 *

Aims

To determine the densities and large-scale habitats use of a range of Andean endemic birds from pristine habitats within the Guandera reserve to degraded habitats directly affected by humans outside the reserve;
To make extensive inventories of bird species' occurrence in the treelike forest and páramo of the largely unsurveyed eastern slopes of the Andes of Carchi province, Ecuador.

Documentation

Report (24pp)

Fulcrum Challenge 1997 : Young Enterprise Scotland : Scotland to Paraguay *

Documentation

Diary and Reports (1v. unpaginated) on the following projects: -

A country unknown;
History and European influences;
Local communities of the Maskoy Indians;
A survival guide to the chaco;
Education in Paraguay;
Birdlife and conservation;
The wildlife of Paraguay and surrounding areas;
The importance and uses of flora and fauna in medicine;
Native uses of plants in the Paraguayan chaco;
Paraguayan art.

Rural Bolivia, 1995 *

Aims

To look at three rural areas in Bolivia and assess the development projects, prospects and problems that exist.

Documentation

Report (10pp) / by Adelina Frietas, Alexandra Legg, and Ruth Newsum.

Ecuador - The Borders Exploration Group, 1995 *

Aims

To recruit and train a group of young [Scottish] Borderers in the skills, knowledge and social awareness required to undertake an expedition to Ecuador;
To enable participants to experience a developing country by living, working and jointly undertaking adventurous journeys with Ecuadorian people;
To support the participants in the planning and execution of social and scientific studies of their choice;
To heighten local awareness of the project thus enabling participants to seek the necessary funding;
To produce an expedition report so that others may learn from our experiences;
To provide opportunities for as many people as possible to benefit from the project.

Documentation

Expedition Report (115pp + General Appendix)

Bolivia - University of Aberdeen, 1994 *

Aim

To enable the expedition members to experience, first hand, the spectacular physical and cultural environment of Bolivia.

Documentation

Expedition Report (9pp)

Manu National Park, Peru - University of Edinburgh, 1991 *

Objective

A baseline survey of primates around Manu Tourist Lodge, to enable future monitoring of populations in relation to increasing numbers of tourist visitors.

Documentation

Report (22pp - 2 copies) / by Mike Daniels [and others]

Riobamba, Chimborazo Province, Ecuador - University of Aberdeen, 1990 *

Main Aim

To carry out fieldwork that would form the basis for undergraduate dissertations.

Documentation

Report (30pp) / author: Joanna V. Kidd

Ecuador - University of Aberdeen, 1985 *

Documentation

Report (103pp) / edited by Michael Garbutt [and others], with research reports in the following subject areas: -

Urban;
Agrarian systems;
Geomorphology.

Peru - Trinity College, Glenalmond, 1981 *

Documentation

Final Report (88pp).

Chilean Patagonia - Joint Services Expedition, 1973 *

Documentation

Preliminary Report (50pp);
Report on Botany and Entomology (13pp);
Report on Geology (13pp);
Hydrographic Survey (22pp) / by Lt. C.S. Gobey, R.N.

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Latest revision on 14th January 2004 by Kerr Jamieson (RSGS Map and Photograph Curator)