For me it was like a religious experience. I had never before seen mature coronas of Platycerium andinum on magnificent quinilla trees, visible from a public road. However even there, one of his posted signs had been damaged, two large quinilla trees had been cut, and one was burning. What needs to be done. The tropical dry forests are disappearing rapidly and they do not receive the same publicity and attention as the tropical rainforests.
Public education is vital.
If the public does not see the value of this Zone of Ecological Protection, it will be destroyed even after it has been established. Many people including the residents of San Martin think that all epiphytes are orchids. Few know that the Crown of the Angeles is a fern. Fewer yet know that it is the largest fern in the Americas and that it is native only to their part of the world. Visitors and tourists to San Martin can see Platycerium andinum at the Tarapoto Airport, it also is grown in some hotel gardens and in home gardens.