Celebrating 30 Years: A Path That Began in the Amazon Continues to Expand 

Mapping out the community Colombia

This year, the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) is celebrating 30 years of biocultural conservation, an approach that recognizes the protection of local and Indigenous knowledge and culture go hand in hand with protecting the Earth’s most critical ecosystems. And the conservation solutions led by these communities are as diverse as the cultures and geographic regions…

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ACT Featured in Podcast Series on the People and Forces Shaping the Amazon 

Staff from the Amazon Conservation Team are featured across multiple episodes of Rewilding Amazonia, an eight-part investigative podcast series from Rewildology examining what it truly takes to protect the Amazon. Hosted by conservation biologist Brooke Mitchell, the series draws on nearly 30 hours of interviews with 22 scientists, practitioners, and community leaders across six Amazonian countries. New episodes release every Tuesday through June…

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Curare: The Amazonian Arrow Poison and Its Role in History and Medicine

Curare Seeds. Photo: ACT

Written by: Barbara Onkle Curare is a plant-based arrow poison perfected over centuries by Indigenous peoples of the Amazonia. Applied to the tips of both blowgun darts and arrows, it induces profound muscle relaxation, ultimately stopping breathing by paralyzing the diaphragm. This remarkable botanical technology was central to subsistence hunting in tropical rainforests, where dense…

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Ariadna Gutiérrez Becomes Ambassador for the Amazon Conservation Team

The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) is proud to announce that actress, model, and humanitarian Ariadna Gutiérrez has joined the organization as an Ambassador, lending her voice and platform to the protection of rainforests, Indigenous cultures, and ancestral wisdom across South America. Gutiérrez, who has long been passionate about environmental and cultural preservation, deepened her commitment…

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Musician Cimafunk Teams Up With the Amazon Conservation Team

The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) is proud to announce Afro-Cuban musician Cimafunk has joined the organization as an official ambassador. In this role, the internationally acclaimed artist will help spotlight the work ACT is doing to protect the Amazon rainforest and support Indigenous and local communities across South America. Cimafunk, a Grammy-nominated musician whose genre-defying…

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Training Community Rangers to Protect the World’s Greenest Country 

At the airport in Suriname’s capital city, travelers are greeted by a sign beneath a vibrant photo of frogs, parrots, and other rainforest creatures. It reads: “Welcome to Suriname: The most forested country in the world.”  Tucked on the northeastern edge of South America, the former Dutch colony is the continent’s smallest country by both…

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Finding Climate Optimism in the Amazon this Earth Day 

Earth Day, celebrated this Tuesday, is a global reminder to reflect on the health of our planet. And right now, there’s no sugarcoating it—the biosphere’s vital signs are concerning. The past decade has been the hottest on record. Droughts, wildfires, and hurricanes are growing more intense. The climate crisis feels more real than ever.  But…

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