 He currently co-directs three research programs on natural resource management in the eastern, southern and western Amazon basin focusing on the ecology of natural and heavily modified landscapes and their role in the retention of biodiversity.Peres was born in Belém, Brazil, and was exposed to Amazonian natural history from early childhood on his father's ranch in eastern Pará, which consisted largely of primary forest.Since 1982 he has been studying wildlife community ecology in Amazonian forests, the biological criteria for designing nature reserves, and the population ecology of resource management within and outside protected areas.