Posts by Amazon Conservation Team
Celebrating 30 Years: A Path That Began in the Amazon Continues to Expand
This year, the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) is celebrating 30 years of biocultural conservation, an approach that recognizes the protection of local and Indigenous knowledge and culture go hand in hand with protecting the Earth’s most critical ecosystems. And the conservation solutions led by these communities are as diverse as the cultures and geographic regions…
Read MoreMongabay: Suriname will not be saved by soybeans (commentary)
In a new commentary for Mongabay, Dr. Mark Plotkin, ethnobotanist and President of the Amazon Conservation Team, argues that large-scale foreign agribusiness — Brazilian, Mennonite, or otherwise — won’t modernize Suriname’s economy and bring shared prosperity, as promised. Instead, drawing on patterns seen throughout tropical America, he argues it will do the opposite: clearing forest,…
Read MoreSierra Nevada de Santa Marta Receives a New Level of Protection
The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) celebrates the Colombian government’s recent decision to permanently designate the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta — known to its Indigenous peoples as the Heart of the World — as a Renewable Natural Resources Reserve. Formalized through Resolution 0663 of 2026, issued by Colombia’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, this sweeping protection covers more…
Read MoreACT Featured in Podcast Series on the People and Forces Shaping the Amazon
Staff from the Amazon Conservation Team are featured across multiple episodes of Rewilding Amazonia, an eight-part investigative podcast series from Rewildology examining what it truly takes to protect the Amazon. Hosted by conservation biologist Brooke Mitchell, the series draws on nearly 30 hours of interviews with 22 scientists, practitioners, and community leaders across six Amazonian countries. New episodes release every Tuesday through June…
Read MoreDr. Mark Plotkin Speaks to WWLTV on Indigenous Plant Medicine and Psychedelic Research
As a new executive order fast-tracks psychedelic research for veteran mental health treatment, WWLTV turned to Dr. Mark Plotkin, co-founder and president of the Amazon Conservation Team, for perspective. Drawing on nearly four decades of fieldwork with Amazonian community leaders, Dr. Plotkin speaks to the deep traditional roots of these plant-based medicines and the importance…
Read MoreAward-Winning Map Advocates for the Protection of Isolated Indigenous Peoples of South America
The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) is proud to announce that A Fight for Survival: Isolated Indigenous Peoples of South America, created in partnership with the International Working Group on Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact (GTI-PIACI), has been named the Winner in the Environment category of the 2025 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition, hosted by Esri.…
Read MoreA Message from Indigenous Leadership Fellows
“I don’t have to choose between who I am, and where I am.” The following letter was written and read aloud by recipients of the Amazon Conservation Team’s Indigenous Leadership Fellowship Program — a scholarship program ACT launched in 2017 in partnership with Colombia’s Universidad Externado. The program supports Indigenous university students through mentorship, peer…
Read MoreEsri highlights ACT mapping work with Indigenous communities
The Amazon Conservation Team works closely with Indigenous communities to create cultural maps that record and preserve traditional knowledge and support the conservation of ecosystems. Brian Hettler, Director of Mapping for the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), recently spoke with Esri’s StoryScape magazine about using Esri’s GIS software to build maps with local communities. He also explains more…
Read MoreFilhas da ancestralidade: mulheres indígenas se reúnem por territórios e pela vida
Mais de cinco mil mulheres indígenas ocuparam Brasília para incidir por direitos. A mobilização culminou na construção de propostas para o Plano Nacional de Políticas para as Mulheres Indígenas. Entre os dias 3 e 7 de agosto, a IV Marcha das Mulheres Indígenas trouxe milhares de mulheres dos seis biomas brasileiros para ocupar a capital…
Read MoreAncestral Tides Annual Report
Sea turtles are living ambassadors from a deep and distant past. For Indigenous cultures along the coast, these ancient, 100 million-year-old creatures embody wisdom, endurance, and the power of creation. Through our Ancestral Tides program, the Amazon Conservation Team partners with Indigenous and local communities to protect sea turtles and the coastal ecosystems they call…
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