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How the Amazon Conservation Association is protecting our rainforests

Could you remind our readers why the Amazon rainforest so important?

The Amazon is the world’s largest tropical rainforest and is very important because all of the ecosystems in the world are interconnected. A healthy Amazon matters to the people that live there, the countries that it encompasses and ultimately to the entire world.

The Amazon is home to irreplaceable biodiversity. Around 10% of the world’s wildlife species are living in the Amazon. They help ensure that the ecosystems in the Amazon are healthy, and healthy forests also lead to healthy people. It is important to keep these forests standing as the Amazon is also the ancestral homeland of hundreds of indigenous tribes and groups. Some of them are living in voluntary isolation, so around 100 of those tribes are living in traditional hunter-gatherer ways. The only way we can keep them safe and protected is to keep the Amazon safe. It is really important to keep the forests standing so that people can live their traditional ways of life. We also can’t ignore the fact that The Amazon has tremendous economic value, it is an economic engine for the 9 countries it encompasses, 70% GDP of South America’s continent was produced in areas that receive water from the Amazon Rainforest- so that is around 8.2 billion per year just for Brazil’s economy alone. Economies need to keep going and therefore to have the rainforest standing. 

We also can’t discount the climate factor. The Amazon is a huge climate regulator for the entire world (remember that it is interconnected to everywhere we live around the globe). This is because the Amazon forest stores more than 158 billion metro tonnes of carbon. To keep that carbon from being emitted into the atmosphere, we need to make sure that the Amazon is well protected.

How much power do rainforests have in aiding climate change?

Keeping the forests standing is one of the cheapest and easiest way to keep carbon of the atmosphere, because not only are they absorbing carbon, but they are storing it in the ground. Rainforests are a great tool to mediate it, and they also help local people adapt to climate change and become resilient to it. The Amazon forest strengthens the connection between areas of biodiversity so that species are able to move upwards in the Indian slopes of the Amazon as the climate becomes hotter and dryer, therefore enabling the species to survive climate change. The more deforestation that there is, the more carbon will be in the atmosphere. Even though reforestation is very important, we believe that we need to also protect trees that are over 100 years old as they have the ability to absorb more carbon and keeping more carbon in the ground.


What are the biggest threats to the Amazon?

The biggest issues in the Amazon are deforestation and fires. Deforestation disrupts ecosystems and impacts the habitat of key flora and fauna that depend on the Amazon for their survival, and the changes it creates in ecosystems leads to the overall degradation of the rainforest in general. This is a critical problem because when the natural balance of the Amazon is altered, species may not be able to adapt and the system cannot self-regulate and thus becomes more vulnerable to other external threats, such as wildfires. This is why we are seeing now a direct link between recently-deforested areas and increased fire events and intensity. Because the Amazon is a major carbon sink and source of incredible biodiversity, the ever-increasing occurrence of deforestation and fires make them the biggest threats to the region.

What are the main drivers of deforestation?

The main drivers of deforestation are the unsustainable expansion of agriculture, cattle ranging, illegal logging, illegal gold mining, and poorly- planned infrastructure put undue pressure on the Amazon's resources. Infrastructures such as ill-conceived roads open up the Amazon to more deforestation by disrupting the ecosystem and habitats, increasing human presence in remote areas, and making access to the Amazon easier for unchecked and illegal exploitation. Last year we saw over 200 million acres of forest deforested in the Amazon. In the Andean Amazon region, particularly in Peru and Bolivia, we are seeing growing access to remote areas of the Amazon along rivers and roads to conduct illegal gold mining and logging that leaves large patches of forest deforested, riverbanks destroyed, and large amounts of trash and machinery in their wake. These are quick operations that happen without control and have a disproportionately high environmental impact. We are also noticing an increase in fires every year, related to increases in the number of deforested areas each year. In Brazil especially, there is an increase in forest fires as uncontrolled slash and burn agriculture may turn into forest fires. We are increasing our fire monitoring and tracking project alongside local partners, but there are still illegal fires and deforestation is still on the rise. Preventing these two big threats will be very central to ensure the Amazon rainforest stays standing.

What species is the Amazon home to?

The Amazon is home to 10% of all the world species, there are hundreds of thousands of species here. Some of these are endangered and threatened. 


What is your strategy at ACC?

We at Amazon Conservation Association have a pretty holistic approach to protecting the Amazon rainforest, and we work around our 3 pillars.

Our 1st pillar is to help people build sustainable and resilient livelihoods that actually protect the forest e.g. – focusing on producing sustainable acai berries/brazil nuts as oppose to people having to resort to illegal gold mining in order to feed their families. We are also helping to strengthen governments and improve the protection of natural resources. Whenever there are illegal incursions, e.g., in indigenous territories or in protected areas, we are helping the government apply the law and stop these incursions.

Our 2nd pillar is to Protect wild places, this is the bread and butter of what we do, as we are protecting ecosystems by creating protected areas. And also making sure that there is connectivity within the Amazon. For example, if we have 5 different protected areas, they are not connected to one another. We are trying to create a mosaic of protected areas which will actually allow the species to transit between them and allow them to have a larger area to survive. E.g., The jaguar needs a very large habitat, and one isolated protected area isn’t enough to stop the Jaguar from going extinct. It is therefore important to have a much greater area for this species to live in.

Our 3rd pillar is Science and technology at work, here, we are putting the latest of scientific discoveries and technologies for conservation purposes. MAAP ( www.maaproject.org) looks at deforestation in real time using satellites, drones and other types of technology, we then send that information to the key government agencies and the local communities to actually stop deforestation as it is happening. In helping governments to stop deforestation, We send the exact information and location of deforestation as it is happening, so if there is an incursion in someone’s territory, such as an indigenous one, we alert the government right away so that 1 acre doesn’t become 100 and so that 100 doesn’t become 1000 acres.

We always work in partnership with local governments and the local people because we think it is important that protecting the Amazon is not just something local NGOs should just be doing but also something that is ingrained in local people’s ability to protect their own forest, governments also change because of political ideologies and their will in protecting the forest. One success case that we have is in Peru where we helped establish the national system of control and monitoring where government agencies of all types came together to stop illegal forest fires, there was more accountability, and support from the government and their ability to go in and stop deforestation increased. We helped create that system along with other agencies that we have been working with for the past 20 years, it was very important to build that trust in the government and local communities to be able to accomplish that, and we are now trying to expand that system in other Amazonian countries. We have started working in Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil with partner organisations.

https://www.acca.org.pe/ Conservación Amazónica – ACCA (our sister organization in Peru)

http://www.conservacionamazoni... Conservación Amazónica – ACEAA (our sister organization in Bolivia)

How do you safeguard indigenous territories?

We safeguard indigenous territories is by using our real time satellite monitoring system, this way we can track when there are any changes in their territories, if there is a confirmed intrusion, we alert authorities straight away so that action can be taken as soon as possible, and we make some of these reports public so that we have the public pressure on the government to take action.

How do you protect endangered and threatened species?

We protect their homes. Without having large habitats to survive, these species are very close to becoming extinct. It is very difficult for endangered and threatened species to survive without having their homes protected, especially as some of these species only exist in the Amazon, which is another important reason to protect the Amazon as without it, these species can’t exist, and they have no other place to go.

How do fires impact the species that the rainforest is home to?

Fires destroy the homes of these species, and the species itself while creating tragic scenes of them being consumed by the fires. It is very important to work on preventing fires, in order to stop them from happening especially for endangered species as their chance of survival becomes lower. We still need to create more areas of conservation; we need to continue to train people on fire prevention and provide our communities with the supplies and education to put out fires.

I feel like when a fire happens there is of course a lot of attention on response, but do you think that there needs to be more attention placed on preventing fires in the first place?

Absolutely, and that is what we are fighting, that there is a lot of focus on the fire response which yes is extremely important, however, preventing the fires in the first place is what is most needed for the Amazon. Prevention practices we encourage and teach at ACC includes educating local people, providing them tools, and ensuring that they have sustainable livelihoods so that they don’t have to resort to fires and clearing land for destructive practices. We also think that there is not enough focus on the connection between deforestation and fires as we are witnessing deforestation lead to a lot of fires, especially in the Brazilian Amazon where we see the majority of them happening. We know that deforestation takes place and that fires follow shortly after, so stopping deforestation would decrease the number of fires in the Amazon.

How do you use science and technology in your work in preventing fires?

We have created a fire tracking software that is a virtual tool that anyone can use to understand and track fires in the Amazon. With the tool, we also produce reports for the government so that they can be informed of the specific location and coordinates of the forest fires so that they can take action and understand the drivers of fires better (e.g., illegal fires). The nature of Bolivia’s fires are more just forest fires rather than agriculture-based fires, so we try to supply the local population with workshops on fire prevention as well as the location so that the local brigades are equipped and able to respond to those fires and put them out before it gets to a point of no return.

We work with our sister organisations in Bolivia and Peru as an alliance as they help us with the science and technology work. We currently have a partnership with software company ‘Sass’ and they are helping us think through and expand on the app. We have partnerships with satellite companies that provides us with the satellite imagery to us so that we are able to see the deforestation happening in real time and show the government the exact location. That’s all the technology we are using alongside remote sensing, tracking, in mapping technology, and GIS which helps us to identify where these fires are located, whether they are legal or illegal, and what the drivers of the fires are. We are also working on the ground with partner organisations that are similar to ours that are working directly with the government to make sure the right information gets to the right people, they do monitoring with us and we are training them so that they can track deforestation as well in Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil.

Do you do any work in fire response?

Response to forest fires is very challenging, it is not the main focus to us as an organisation as we are focusing on preventing fires from happening in the first place. For fire response we are focusing in Bolivia because the local communities don’t have enough funds, support, technology or tools to actually put out fires. Some of these communities don’t even have access to water or access to a truck where they can bring in their volunteer fire fighters to put out fires. So, we are focusing our firefighting efforts in Bolivia where we are seeing the majority of fires happening. It is really important to give the people in Bolivia both the tools and the knowledge to put out fires- we are focus on the /…. areas in Bolivia because we are seeing a lot of intense forest fires in that region that spread to other healthy forests as well.

Where do people’s donations go?

When people donate to Amazon conservation Association, we like to emphasise that more than 80% of all the donations goes to work ‘on the ground’ which is much higher than the industry standards of non-profits. We are an ‘on the ground’ organisation, meaning that your money and donation will actually impact helping the Amazon as we are based there. Your donation may help indigenous communities to keep their forests safe, it could help a community put out a forest fire, help someone not resort to illegal mining but actually make a living through sustainable means to put food on their family’s plate, or to create a national park/conservation area for endangered species to survive. These are all different ways we protect the Amazon and your donation goes towards them. We have a whole portfolio of programs, it can be overwhelming at times but the most important thing to know is that we are transparent, we care about putting that money on the ground as much as possible so that it goes into keeping the amazon standing for all of us.

Financial Information: https://www.amazonconservation.org/about/financial-information/

What can people do to help other than donate?

People that have a specific expertise that they can help us with, especially those in the technology industry or people that want to do fundraising campaigns. People don’t have to necessarily make money but any sort of raising awareness of what is happening is so important. There is a lot that can be done on social media such as raising awareness or funds, sharing with friends and family, donating, or doing a run for the amazon.

What makes the Amazon conservation different from other charities?

What sets apart the Amazon conservation association apart from other charities is 3 main things. Firstly,

We have been in the Amazon for 20 years now and are committed to staying there, we don’t do hit and run conservation, we won’t ever do a project in the amazon and then leave – we have a commitment to stay in the Amazon for the long term- as long as the Amazon needs us, we will be there for it. Secondly is that we are an on the ground organisation, we aren’t in the US, we don’t have a big team in the US telling us what to do. We have local non-profits, experts in the ground with us on the site, and we are helping local governments and local communities that we empower to do conservation themselves. The third element is that we are very transparent with all our financials and where exactly donations are going. We really hope that people will help us in fighting for the amazon and we want people to know that we are here to stay.

What are your greatest achievements results of the 20 years so far?

Key achievements are that we have created over 30 conservation areas in the Amazon that are protecting 9.1 million acres of rainforests currently and every year. Our main goal is to get to 124 million acres that protects the entire Amazon. We helped the Peru government create the national system of control and monitoring that is a model now of how conservation can be done with governments, local communities and NGOS that we are trying to promote across the entire amazon rainforest. We have created a model for conservation: concession ‘los amigos’ which is a model where the government leases land for non-profits entirely for the purpose of conservation and that means that the government doesn’t need to spend a lot of money on staff or effort in protecting an area because an NGO or partner can take on protecting the area from there. So our work directly protects indigenous territories as well- it is important we keeps those type of conservation areas going.

We have used science and technology throughout our whole history but our monitorisation of Indian project stands alone as a game changing technology achievement because it is using deforestation monitoring. It is using satellites in a remote way in real time whereas before, the government the media and local people only found out about deforestation happening in remote places months after it actually happened and now we can provide that information in days so that deforestation doesn’t get to that point of no return – very important to get deforestation to that place of not expanding rather than just responding to it after it happened.

ENDANGERED AND THREATENED SPECIES:

giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus), giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), jaguar (Pantera onca), crested eagle (Morphnus guianensis), Goeldi’s monkey(Callimico goeldii), agouti, scarlet macaw (Ara macao), harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), Orinoco goose (Neochen jubata), marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus), black-faced spider monkey (Ateles chamek), White-bellied parrot (Pionites leucogaster), and Channel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos vitellinus)

VULNERABLE SPECIES:

white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), South American tapir (Tapirus terrestris), bush dog (Speothos venaticus), Pavonine Quetzal (Pharomachrus pavonivus), Great Jacamar (Jacamerops aureus), Royal Flycatcher (Onychorhynchus coronatus), Spangled Continga (Cotinga cayana) and Bar-bellied Woodcreeper (Hylexetastes stresemanni)