News
A Day in the Field: Wildlife Sightings + Transect Work in Suriname
It is 6 a.m. when the students wake up to the drip, drip, drip of water falling from nearby trees. It rained heavily throughout the night. The early morning rousing is now routine for these young people—collaborators in a“twinning” (partnership) project engaging ACT Suriname and the University of Utrecht.
Read MoreAmazon Connected: The Waurá of Ulupuene have Access to the Internet
In August 2015, a groundbreaking event took place in the village of Ulupuene in the Brazilian Amazon: internet connectivity arrived.
Read MoreLet There Be Light: ACT and Barefoot College partner to bring solar energy to indigenous villages in Suriname
ACT Suriname is partnering with the Barefoot College in the Solar Engineering Training Program. Through this program, two indigenous Trio women from Tepu will complete a six-month training in India from October 2015 – March 2016. Solar energy in the villages will provide communities with a clean and more reliable source of energy.
Read MoreVisiting Suriname’s Most Remote Village
Field work in Suriname comes at a hefty price—more than 60 percent of ACT-Suriname’s budget goes toward chartered flights to the country’s interior.
For this reason, our field staff make the most of their time during each community visit.
Read MoreACT Raises $35,000 for The Trio Indian Shaman’s Encyclopedia
In May 2015, ACT President Dr. Mark Plotkin asked our supporters to donate to a unique project in honor of his 60th birthday.
The project—to create the Trio Indian Shaman’s Encyclopedia—is the capstone on the work Mark began with the Trio people more than 30 years ago and will serve as a guide for tribal peoples throughout the Amazon seeking to protect oral shamanic knowledge.
Read MoreAmazon Conservation Team Presented with the Seeing a Better World Award
In July, DigitalGlobe honored ACT with the Seeing a Better World Award. ACT has received complimentary imagery from the company since January 2014, allowing for drastically improved monitoring and protection of large swaths of rainforest. These images are an incredible gift that allow us to be on the forefront of satellite mapping for conservation.
Read MoreActor and Environmentalist Ed Begley, Jr. joins ACT Advisory Board
The Amazon Conservation Team welcomes actor and environmentalist Ed Begley, Jr. to its Advisory Board. Though still widely beloved for his role in the television series St. Elsewhere, he has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. And so committed is he to the conservation cause that he has been called "the…
Read MoreColombia's Yunguillo Indigenous Reserve gets big expansion
A landmark achievement was celebrated in southwest Colombia in May when the Colombian Institute for Rural Development approved the expansion of the Inga people’s Yunguillo Indigenous Reserve. ACT helped facilitate the expansion along with the Inga community, INCODER, and regional indigenous organizations.
Read MoreA New Partnership in Suriname
In the remote forests of Suriname, ACT is collaborating with students from the University of Utrecht (The Netherlands), the Anton de Kom University (Suriname) and Suriname’s Institute for Natural resources to protect biodiversity in Trio and Wayana lands. Through this partnership, both students and ACT’s Indigenous Park Guards (IPGs) will gain important skills.
Read MoreArt & Conservation: A Unique Meeting of Future Leaders of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
From May 13-15, 2015 in Colombia, the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), the Organización Gonawindúa Tayrona (OGT) which represents the Kogi people, and renowned Colombian artist Pedro Ruiz collaborated on a workshop designed to teach children the value of their territory and of partnerships between communities.
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