Posts by Liliana Madrigal
A Return to Ulupuwene: Indigenous-Led Conservation in Brazil
Ulupuwene, within the Batovi Indigenous Territory of Brazil, has a special place in the heart of ACT. It is a small community of courageous Waura people, led by Chief and Pajé (shaman) Eleukah and his wife Kapi, who is also a powerful shaman. We met a little over two decades ago, and since then, together,…
Read MoreRichard Kahn: Sparking the Amazon Conservation Team
Richard Kahn was one of those quiet visionaries—a brilliant lawyer and activist with a profound sense of social and environmental justice and a believer in the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics in healing. Truly, a man ahead of his time. At the end of 1995, Richard, who at the time was a trustee of a family foundation, called to…
Read MoreStanding at the Crossroads: Partnering with the Waurá of Ulupuene
The Waurá, our indigenous partners in Brazil, asked for our support to protect the Kamukuaká Cave. This cave is profoundly sacred to the Waurá. For thousands – yes, thousands – of years, they have traveled to the cave to partake in deep ceremonies that connect them to their ancestors, their spirits, the natural world, and…
Read MoreGoing at Nature’s Pace: The Story of ASOMI
With the occasion of ACT’s 25th anniversary, Maria del Rosario Chicunque—Charito, the formidable leader that some of you have met—and I want to share the wonderful, glorious, painful, and ultimately extraordinary path that led to the creation of ASOMI, the Association of Indigenous Women, and their private reserve in Colombia. ASOMI’s headquarters is aptly called La Chagra de la Vida, or the Garden of Life. As with all gardens, it nourishes us with blessings of food, beauty, and joy, but it needs proactive tending and weeding in return—never-ending tasks that can give us scrapes, blisters, and scars.
Read More25 Years Ago: Why We Founded the Amazon Conservation Team
Liliana Madrigal, ACT co-founder, recounts what inspired her to leave the world of conventional environmental conservation and create a new and innovative conservation organization that works for and with the indigenous peoples of critical ecosystems in the Amazon.
Read MoreJaba Restored: The Resilience of Nature at a Kogi Sacred Site
Along the northeastern coast of Colombia, the Kogi indigenous people people have been working to restore their traitional sacred site of Jaba Tañiwashkaka.
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