About
ACT works in partnership with traditional communities of the Colombian Amazon to strengthen biodiversity protection through capacity building and fortification of their traditional medicine and culture. Our programs in Colombia originated through pioneering work to stabilize the cultural erosion experienced by various indigenous groups of southwestern Colombia primarily through the development of the Shamans and Apprentices program and by enabling Indigenous Gatherings for indigenous authorities of the region. Since that time, our programs with our partner communities have grown to include projects focusing on youth education, land management planning and food security.
Two of the most prominent successes have been the founding of the Alto Fragua Indi Wasi National Park - a protected area jointly managed by indigenous communities and the Colombian National Park Service - and the creation of the Orito Ingi-Ande Plant Sanctuary, which establishes a new category of reserve that protects plants of high cultural value to indigenous communities.
Where ACT Colombia Works
The Eastern Andean Piedmont / Colombian Amazon 
ACT's work in Colombia takes place in an area crosscutting the states of Caquetá, Putumayo, and Cauca, a single region encompassing a portion of the Eastern Andean Piedmont and continuing eastward into the adjacent plains of the Amazon.
The Eastern Andean Piedmont, the forested flanks of the country's eastern-most Andean cordillera, harbors some of the most biologically diverse tropical forests in the world. Here, mountainous terrain tumbles dramatically toward the lowland tropical forests of the Amazon. The extreme altitudinal gradients over short distances have a dramatic effect on microclimate and the composition of plant and animal communities, and often result in ecosystems exhibiting extremely high biological wealth.
In working within the ecosystems of the Andean slopes and the Amazon plains, ACT's activities in Colombia promotes conservation in line with the natural connectivity of these two important ecosystems. And because ACT seeks to work with its indigenous partners and their traditional lands in a cohesive manner, our activities in Colombia necessarily span across many types of modern boundaries including state and municipal lines and protected and non-protected areas.
Programs
Management of Indigenous Lands
Indigenous-driven Land Protection
Sustainable Development
Integrated Healthcare
Shamans and Apprentices
Indigenous Radio Programming
Indigenous Gatherings
Education
Women's Programs
Indigenous Association Building
Selected Achievements
- Partnership in the establishment of the 168,000-hectare Alto Fragua Indi Wasi National Park, the first reserve in the northwest Amazon designated for co-management by governmental and indigenous institutions
- Partnership in the establishment of the 22,000-acre Orito Ingi-Ande Medicinal Plant Sanctuary, the first reserve in the northwest Amazon especially designated for the protection of medicinal plants
- Essential support for the official creation of five indigenous associations in the states of Caquetá, Putumayo, and Cauca
- Critical assistance in the establishment and continuation of an 80-strong union of shamans and apprentices
- Providing funding and support for two indigenous-run radio stations
For more, visit the ACT-Colombia website: http://www.actcolombia.org
