Conservation victory in Colombia’s deforestation hotspot 

On the shores of the Caquetá River, among tall Amazonian palms and fast flowing waters brown with silt, are three indigenous reserves– Huitorá, Coropoyá and Jericó Consaya. These reserves are home to 138 families of the Murui Muina and Korebajʉ people, who have long assumed responsibility for caring for the life within their biodiverse territory.  

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Going at Nature’s Pace: The Story of ASOMI

With the occasion of ACT’s 25th anniversary, Maria del Rosario Chicunque—Charito, the formidable leader that some of you have met—and I want to share the wonderful, glorious, painful, and ultimately extraordinary path that led to the creation of ASOMI, the Association of Indigenous Women, and their private reserve in Colombia. ASOMI’s headquarters is aptly called La Chagra de la Vida, or the Garden of Life. As with all gardens, it nourishes us with blessings of food, beauty, and joy, but it needs proactive tending and weeding in return—never-ending tasks that can give us scrapes, blisters, and scars.

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The Healing Bees of the Amazon Forest

Stingless bee diversity of southern Suriname/northern Brazil

Ancient human societies were not the first to discover the power of plants for healing: for millions of years, bees have used botanical resin exudates—known as propolis—to control the proliferation of microorganisms in their nests. These Amazonian bees possess innate knowledge of medicinal plants. By collecting resin from different trees and plants, they produce one of the first medicine cocktail of animals’ societies, known as propolis. ACT has been strengthening the communities living in the Amazon forest in order to sustainably harvest this product.

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Amazon Conservation Team Reestablished in Brazil

On January 25, 2019, responding to several requests for partnership from indigenous communities in Brazil, the Amazon Conservation Team® (ACT®) decided to reestablish itself in the country. ACT began its work in Brazil at the turn of the 21st century. Through 2011, ACT supported several indigenous groups in mapping their cultural realities and traditional natural…

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Using Satellite Technology to Protect Isolated Tribes in the Amazon Rainforest

A field team from ACT traveled to the Curare – Los Ingleses Indigenous Reserve in the Colombian Amazon in July to assist local communities in the creation of a detailed management plan for their rainforest territories that integrates western and traditional perspectives to achieve sound conservation practices. Amazingly, this remote reserve has spearheaded national efforts…

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