News
Aluakumá, the Big Bat: Oral Histories in a Waurá Community
Oral Histories in a Waurá Community: In the village of Ulupuene, which partners with ACT, two elders and community leaders passed away: the regional “keeper of songs and dances,” Yakuana, who took with him a vast wealth of knowledge about Waurá cultural practices; and most recently, Aluakumá (“Big Bat”), a village elder, shaman, and healer. Both men were revered, and their kin expressed that they had lost more than just a loved one—they had lost an unrecoverable repository of cultural knowledge.
Read MoreHonoring a Leading Commitment to Conservation in Concert with Indigenous Peoples
On September 21, 2017, in the company of indigenous leaders and ACT staff, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was honored at the National Geographic Society for his special leadership in environmental conservation and his commitment to the preservation of biodiversity.
Read MoreWhy We Invested: The Amazon Conservation Team
When thinking about where and when to invest, we look closely at windows of opportunity, during which our engagement can have an outsized and catalytic impact. Such a window presented itself to us this spring in Colombia. In fall of 2016, President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a…
Read MoreModern maps through traditional skills
For generations, indigenous people will talk about ‘their’ Keeng Kumu. His passion and talent have increased in value, through the enhancement and addition of modern technology. His passion for drawing maps of indigenous areas was supplemented with targeted training and resulted in a professional knowledge exchange.
Read MoreMonitoring the Colombian Amazon with Radar
In order to provide a baseline for the observation and study of the Colombian Amazon, particularly with regard to water and deforestation monitoring, ACT and the Dutch research unit SarVision have created a groundbreaking vegetation structure map of the Colombian Amazon.
Read MoreThe life and travels of an indigenous mapping expert
The Amazon Conservation Team relies on our indigenous partners to accomplish the work of protecting South America’s forests. See how the mapping of ancestral lands in collaboration with indigenous people is central to our conservation work, in our latest interactive story map.
Read MoreThe Heart of the Amazon Has Nearly Been Rescued
With the expansions of two indigenous reserves, the Chiribiquete National Park and the Predio Putumayo indigenous reserve have been connected. Together, they total 10 million hectares.
Read MoreBetter Protection for Chiribiquete, Northwest Amazon’s Most Important Protected Area
On July 12, 2017, the Colombian National Land Agency approved the expansions of the Puerto Sábalo Los Monos Indigenous Reserve by 413,110 hectares and of the Monochoa Indigenous Reserve by 154,790 hectares. The twin expansions effectively connect the largest national park in the country, the Chiribiquete National Park, with the largest reserve, the Predio Putumayo Indigenous Reserve, creating a vast conservation corridor in the Amazon region linking near 10 million hectares of protected lands.
Read MoreACA and ACT launch forest monitoring initiative in Colombia
This report has two objectives: 1) Illustrate the major deforestation hotspots in the Colombian Amazon between 2001 and 2015 and 2) Focus in on one of the most important hotspots, located in the Caquetá department.
Read MoreA Sweet Future for Southern Suriname (video)
Last year, in the rainforests of Suriname, ACT commenced a sustainable stingless beekeeping initiative with indigenous and Maroon communities. Through this project, ACT is promoting sustainable and organic honey harvesting, preserving the forest habitat of bees, strengthening traditional knowledge and enhancing alternative livelihood opportunities in remote communities.
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