Ãwa People Strengthen Environmental Restoration on Bananal Island
Text by Méle Dornelas · Available in Portuguese. More than 800 seedlings are currently being planted across the territory through the collective work of the entire community. On Bananal Island (Tocantins, Brazil), the Ãwa people are taking new steps toward environmental restoration in their territory. Planting and forest management activities are gaining momentum through the Kawú Nursery, an initiative supported by ACT-Brasil and funded by the Overbrook Foundation and the Scheidel…
Read MoreTikuna People Inaugurate Ancestral Museum in the Upper Solimões
On January 24–25, the Tikuna people inaugurated the Tchirugüne Indigenous Museum in the Indigenous Community of Vila Betânia Mecürane, in the Upper Solimões region of Amazonas, Brazil.
Read MoreBetween Body and Territory: Indigenous Women Facing the Climate Crisis
The impacts of the climate crisis on the health and ancestral knowledge of Indigenous women By Rudja Santos from Carta AmazôniaEdited by Méle Dornelas As COP30 brought the Amazon to the center of global discussions on the climate crisis at the end of 2025, the daily lives of Indigenous women reveal a dimension still largely absent from official…
Read MoreFive conservation stories to celebrate in 2025
From rainforest headwaters to coastal mangroves, 2025 was a year of quiet victories and powerful partnerships. Together with Indigenous and local communities across Central and South America, we helped safeguard forests, rivers, coastlines, and wildlife—while also strengthening the food systems, livelihoods, and cultural knowledge that make those ecosystems thrive. Because in the Amazon and beyond,…
Read MoreProtecting a Global Food Staple: Statement on Cassava Disease
The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) is monitoring the potential spread of Witches’ Broom disease in cassava crops across the Guianas. The fungal pathogen Ceratobasidium causes broom-like shoots and can sharply reduce yields of one of the world’s most important staple foods. “Cassava is the major food crop in these regions imagine what crop failure would mean,” Dr. Mark Plotkin, ethnobotanist and ACT president, said. “For millions of families,…
Read MoreThe Echoes of the Peoples at COP30
Text by Méle Dornelas · Available in Portuguese. A historic mobilization marks advances in land demarcation and territorial protection. ACT stood alongside communities and helped elevate grassroots leadership in climate decision-making. The 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), held in November in Belém (Pará), was defined by the strength and historic coordination of Brazil’s…
Read More‘Our Territory Is Sacred’: Q+A with Ednalva Rondon
Ednalva Rondon grew up in Pakuera village, located within the Kurâ-Bakairi Indigenous Territory in the municipality of Paranatinga, Mato Grosso—one of Brazil’s most ecologically diverse regions, in the central-western part of the country. At 27, she is an active member of the Union of Indigenous Women of the Brazilian Amazon (UMIAB). This year, she is…
Read MoreSolving the problems of the Amazon will require serious commitments at COP30
Carolina Gil, regional director for the Amazon Conservation Team, wrote the following op-ed, published in the Colombian digital news outlet La Silla Vacía (“The Empty Chair”). The original, Spanish version of the piece can be found here. The Amazon is not just a territory that must be preserved, but a vital system that sustains the climatic,…
Read MoreCosta Rica Gathering 2025: Honoring 30 Years and Building ACT’s Future
From October 20 to October 22, 2025, ACT members from the USA, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, and the Guianas gathered in Costa Rica for a transformative event. Joined by board members, donors, guests, and Indigenous partners — María del Rosario “Charito” Chicunque, Pablo Chindoy, and Marinete Tukano — the gathering focused on strategic conversations to align ACT around its next chapter while…
Read MoreOne Health, Indigenous Knowledge, and Climate Action at COP30
What is One Health The term One Health, translated as “One Single Health” or “Unified Health,” was formally adopted globally after the “One World, One Health” symposium held in 2004 in New York. Since then, international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and…
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