Learn about the culture, geography, and history of Amazonian rainforest communities — and the environmental and political threats which they face — through the following works of map-driven digital storytelling such as ESRI story maps, created by the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT).
Living Territories: Stories of Territorial Justice
Join the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) for stories of the ways in which our work to improve territorial rights empowers communities to better manage and preserve some of the world’s most critical ecosystems. (2023, English)
Palabras de Vida
A participatory investigation of the collection of the Ethnographic Museum of Leticia from indigenous perspectives, with a focus on the Magütá (Tikuna), Yukuna, Makuna, and Gente del Centro (Murui-muina and related groups). Digital platform created by Amazon Conservation Team in collaboration with Banco de la República. (2023, Spanish)
Collective Rights Violated During the Pandemic
Cartography of 2017 cases of collective rights violations in six Latin American countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, including an analysis of how communities have defended their territories. (2022, English and Spanish)
25 Years of Biocultural Conservation: The Amazon Conservation Team's 25th Anniversary
For the last 25 years, ACT’s decisions have been guided by close consultation with our partner communities, particularly the elders, who have defined our priorities in the fight for ancestral land rights and protection. (2021, English and Spanish)
Lands of Freedom: The oral history and cultural heritage of the Matawai Maroons in Suriname
Learn about the oral history and cultural heritage of a Surinamese Afro-descendant community who fought for their right to exist in the rainforest centuries ago. (2020, English and Dutch)
Violated Collective Rights: The multidimensional impact of extractive and infrastructure projects
Cartography of 102 cases of collective rights violations in six Latin American countries from 2017 to 2019, including an analysis of how communities have defended their territories. (2020, English, Spanish and Portuguese)
The Amazonian Travels of Richard Evans Schultes
Explore the magical landscapes and indigenous cultures of the the Colombian Amazon through the travels of the legendary ethobotanist Richard Evans Schultes. (2018, English and Spanish)
Amazon Deforestation Reports: Colombia & Ecuador, 2017-2018
The following reports were created between 2017-2018 and have two objectives: 1) to illustrate the main deforestation hotspots in the Colombian and Ecuadorian Amazon between 2001 and 2015; and 2) investigate critical cases of deforestation with satellite images.
Food for trees: deforestation in the middle Caquetá river
Take a trip to the frontier of deforestation in the Colombian Amazon, where illicit actors are coercing local indigenous communities to cut down valuable trees through systems of insurmountable debt. (2018, Spanish)
Legalization of Indigenous Territories in Colombia
Learn about the important role of indigenous land rights in tropical forest conservation and see how recent advances in indigenous land titling in Colombia are supporting regional conservation efforts. (2017, English and Spanish)
Keeng Kumu: Indigenous Cartographer
Explore the unique life and travels of Keeng Kumu, an indigenous Waiwai mapping expert from the northeast Amazon, through maps, photos, and biographical narrative. (2017, English and Dutch)
Sarayaku: In Defense of Territory
Learn about the political and legal struggles of the Sarayaku community in Ecuador against unwanted petroleum exploitation on their ancestral lands. (2016, English and Spanish)
Amazon Gold Rush: Gold Mining in Suriname
Suriname's vast and ancient rainforests remain one of the world's best-kept natural secrets, but the global demand for an age-old mineral threatens to destroy them. (2015, English)