In Suriname, ACT has sought to identify alternative sustainable livelihoods to strengthen the income of indigenous and semi-indigenous families living in the Amazon forest. A recent path of interest to both the Trio and Maroon villages and ACT has been the introduction of honey produced by native stingless bees.
Komuyaroke, Káemaña and Rugáña are the last surviving members of a previously isolated division of the northwest Amazon’s Murui-Muina tribe. Neglect had left them homeless and in precarious living and health conditions. In 2016, ACT responded by building them homes
ACT President Mark Plotkin depicts ACT’s work partnering with over 30 South American tribes, including the Kogi, to map, manage and protect over 70 million acres of ancestral forests. He describes collaboration with elder healers to develop and implement successful “Shamans and Apprentices” programs to transmit sacred healing information down through generations within the tribes themselves.
ACT is pleased to share Kwamalasamutu – In Pursuit of Human Wellbeing, a short documentary film that highlights nearly two years of participatory research in the Trio indigenous village of Kwamalasamutu, Suriname conducted by ACT-trained indigenous Amazon Conservation Rangers together with students from the University of Utrecht and local partners.
Julian Lennon, musician, photographer, and founder of the White Feather Foundation hosts this special episode of Maps, Magic, and Medicine about the Kogi indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. Kogi community members discuss the importance of water, sacred sites, and protecting their ancestral territory and Julian Lennon reflects on the impact of his visit to the Kogi sacred sites and the lessons it imparted.
The Amazon Conservation Team names journalist and environmentalist Lisa Ling as celebrity ambassador for protecting the Amazon The Amazon Conservation…
From November 24 to December 1, 2016 the Week of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta took place in the Museum of the Caribbean in Barranquilla, Colombia. The event was organized by The Amazon Conservation Team, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and the Caribbean Cultural Park, to raise awareness on the importance of this unique ecosystem and the rights of its indigenous peoples.
ACT partners with the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) and the Ecuadorian indigenous community of Sarayaku to tell the story of their struggle against petroleum exploitation using online map-based storytelling tools, available both in English and Spanish.
Words from Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, delivered by Luis Gilberto Murillo, Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development, at…
In September and October 2016, The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) enabled the indigenous community of the rainforest village of Apetina to create six educational murals on the back walls of their local elementary school. Through these murals, ACT seeks to encourage additional local students to complete their village schooling.