Blog Posts

How protecting the Jaguar is essential to conserving the Amazon

October 12, 2021

The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) and Colombia’s Universidad de la Amazonía continue their project “Live and Coexist”, through which they seek to defend carnivorous animals in Caquetá.

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Going at Nature’s Pace: The Story of ASOMI

September 27, 2021

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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Cómo proteger al Jaguar es fundamental para cuidar la Amazonía

September 8, 2021

Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), junto con la Universidad del Amazonía, continúan en su proyecto “Vive y convive”, en el que buscan defender a los animales carnívoros en el departamento del Caquetá, en Colombia, que tiene la mayor tasa de deforestación del país. Esta iniciativa busca busca vincular a las comunidades campesinas de la zona en la defensa, no sólo del jaguar, sino de cientos de especies de fauna y flora que habitan este departamento, que es la puerta a la Amazonía colombiana.

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The Shamans and Apprentices Program: A Promise to Kwamalasamutu

August 19, 2021

The success of the Shamans and Apprentices program was just the beginning of the pioneering biocultural conservation work that ACT has gone on to do. In the spirit of supporting communities in their own efforts — as opposed to implementing foreign, top-down initiatives — ACT sought to secure culturally appropriate means for human and environmental wellbeing, and increase recognition of indigenous culture and self-determination. In this way, we were able to merge the strengths and tools of the Western world in a way that complements but doesn’t dominate the ideals and goals of the local community.

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TORTUGAS PRECIOSAS DE OSA

June 17, 2021
Baby turtles in the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica_Tortugas Preciosas_Costa Rica

Tortugas Preciosas de Osa has released 32,219 baby turtles of three different species, reduced predation and nest theft by 60%, and established a baseline of the biology and ecology of these species in danger of extinction in one of the most biodiverse places in the world. As if that were not enough, during this time we have discovered that this location is one of the most important for hawksbill turtle nesting in the Pacific region of Central America.

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Tortugas Preciosas de Osa: Saving the Sea Turtles of the Osa Peninsula

June 17, 2021
Baby turtles in the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica_Tortugas Preciosas_Costa Rica

Tortugas Preciosas de Osa has released 32,219 baby turtles of three different species, reduced predation and nest theft by 60%, and established a baseline of the biology and ecology of these species in danger of extinction in one of the most biodiverse places in the world. As if that were not enough, during this time we have discovered that this location is one of the most important for hawksbill turtle nesting in the Pacific region of Central America.

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Pueblos Indígenas en Aislamiento o Estado Natural en Colombia: Una historia reciente de los retos para su protección

June 17, 2021

Since the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, there were rumors from rubber and animal skin traders about the presence of peoples who took shelter deep in the adjoining forests. These are peoples who avoid all forms of contact with the surrounding society.

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Indigenous Peoples in Isolation in Colombia: A recent history of the challenges involved in their protection

June 15, 2021

Since the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, there were rumors from rubber and animal skin traders about the presence of peoples who took shelter deep in the adjoining forests. These are peoples who avoid all forms of contact with the surrounding society.

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Yachaikury: cómo aprender desde el territorio, la espiritualidad y la medicina tradicional

May 2, 2021
Waira Nina Jacanamijoy, leader of the educational process of the Inga community of Caquetá

El presente texto cuenta la historia de la fundación de Yachaikury. De las problemáticas más desastrosas, la comunidad inga del Caquetá tomó la oportunidad para tomar decisiones por su propio bien. De esta, nació la fundación de la escuela Yachaikury, una escuela con etnoeducación que plasma los saberes tradicionales indígenas junto con la educación regular. Esta, por encima de las escuelas tradicionales, le trae autonomía a las comunidades y memoria de sus tradiciones.

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Yachaikury: How to learn from the territory, spirituality, and traditional medicine

May 2, 2021
Waira Nina Jacanamijoy, leader of the educational process of the Inga community of Caquetá

This text tells the story of the founding of the Yachaikury School. Faced with disastrous problems, the Inga community of Caquetá took the opportunity to make decisions for their own well-being. From this, the foundation was laid for Yachaikury, a school that pairs traditional indigenous knowledge with standard education. This brings autonomy to the communities and memory of their traditions.

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