ACA Friends

School Involvement in ACA

Here at ACA we are thrilled to share our passion for environmental conservation through education. We work with schools around the world to develop awareness about the Amazon. Through research and fundraising, these schools learn about biodiversity conservation and help support ACA’s work.

Many thanks to Roger’s Park Montessori School of Chicago, IL, Davies County High School Spanish Club of Owensboro, KY, Lubavitcher Yeshiva Academy of West Springfield, MA, Mill Lake School of Monroe Township, NJ, the Year 3 children of the International School of The Hague, Netherlands, Roseville School in Roseville, MN, Liberty High School's Rainforest Project in Hillsboro, OR, and Orinda Intermediate School in Orinda, CA, who together have raised more than $2,800 since 2007 to protect 730 acres of Peruvian rainforest!

We look forward to more opportunities to share a little Amazon conservation with students and schools wherever they are.

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Partners and Allies

The Amazon Conservation Association works with allies around the world, and here are just a few of them:

Joaquín Leguía ANIA (Asociación para la Niñez y su Ambiente, Association for Childhood and the Environment, www.ania-peru.org) is a Peruvian nonprofit organization working to help children grow in harmony with nature. ANIA was established by Joaquín Leguía in 1995.

For several years, Joaquín set ANIA aside to head ACA's sister organization in Peru, ACCA. It was with Joaquín's leadership that ACCA obtained management rights to the Los Amigos Conservation Concession in July of 2001. In the fall of 2001, Joaquín left ACCA to devote himself full-time to work with ANIA. ACA and ACCA still maintain close ties with Joaquín and his work.

“If we succeed, our children will grow and carry our communities toward a sustained well-being that will allow us to live in an environment where productive activities are integrated into responsible management of natural resources, and where all living species are respected.” —Joaquín F. Leguía, President, ANIA

WILDTROPIX, André Bärtschi
ACA would like to give special thanks to natural history photographer André Bärtschi (www.wildtropix.com) for sharing his beautiful, award-winning photographs with us.

As a wildlife photographer, André strives to document the undisturbed beauty of tropical nature, but also the devastating effects of its systematic destruction, using his images as a powerful conservation weapon. His work has been published worldwide in a number of nature books and in magazines such as GEO, BBC Wildlife, International Wildlife, Natural History, Smithsonian and National Geographic. Several of his photos have won awards in the annual BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, and in 1992 he was awarded the top prize in this international contest—the largest and most prestigious of its kind.

Michael Goulding, PhD is one of the world’s leading experts on Amazonian rivers and their biodiversity. He holds a PhD from UCLA and has worked for more than 30 years in the Amazon. With ACA's support, he has directed the production of 10 extraordinary books about the Amazon’s sprawling river system and the rich life it supports. Authored by an international team of aquatic conservation ecologists, these books distill research from across the Amazon Basin into volumes packed with beautiful photos and accessible to a broad audience. Most have been published in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Titles of English editions that are available on Amazon.com are linked below.

Smithsonian Atlas of the Amazon by Michael Goulding, Ronaldo Barthem & Efrem Ferreira (English)
Amazon Headwaters: Rivers, Wildlife and Conservation in Southeastern Peru by Michael Goulding, Carlos Cañas, Ronaldo Barthem, Bruce Forsberg & Hernán Ortega (English & Spanish)
Aquatic Ecology of the Rio Madre de Dios by Ronaldo Barthem, Michael Goulding, Bruce Forsberg, Carlos Cañas & Hernán Ortega (English & Spanish)
An Unexpected Ecosystem: The Amazon as Revealed by Fisheries by Rolando Barthem & Michael Goulding (English, Portuguese & Spanish)
Palms: Sentinels for Amazon Conservation by Michael Goulding & Nigel Smith (English, Portuguese & Spanish)
Amazon River Fruits: Flavors for Conservation by Nigel Smith, Rodolfo Vásquez & Walter Wust (English & Spanish)
Rio Branco: Fishes, Ecology and Conservation in Roraima by Efrem Ferreira, Jansen Zuanon, Bruce Forsberg, Michael Goulding & Sylvio Romerio Briglia-Ferreira (Portuguese)
Larvae of the Large Migratory Catfish by Rosseval Galdino Leite, Carlos Cañas, Bruce Forsberg, Ronaldo Barthem & Michael Goulding (Portuguese & Spanish)
Amazon Dolphins by Vera da Silva, Michael Goulding & Ronaldo Barthem (English, Portuguese & Spanish)
Amazon Turtles by Richard C. Vogt (English, Portuguese & Spanish)

The books were written by the Amazon Rivers Program team, which brings together scientists and students from various institutions, including the University of Florida, Brazil’s Museu Goeldi in Belém, the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA) in Manaus, and Peru’s Museo de Historia Natural and Wust Ediciones in Lima. The research was funded by the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation and the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. E-book editions in all languages will soon be available here on ACA’s website.

Marcia Cleveland graduated from Yale Law School in 1971 and began a career working in legal services in New York City. She went to work at the Natural Resources Defense Council where she specialized in issues relating to toxic substances in the environment and the workplace. In 1979, she became Chief of the Environmental Protection Bureau of the New York Attorney General's Office. After moving to Maine, Ms. Cleveland worked for the state's Attorney General and then worked for the state's leading labor law firm for five years. Eventually, she founded her own firm specializing in environmental, asbestos and worker's compensation litigation. In 2008, Ms. Cleveland earned a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, with a concentration in Climate Change. Today she advises ACA on climate policy and carbon contracts.

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Year 3 children from the International School of the Hague, in the Netherlands, were learning all about rainforests and decided to hold a fundraiser for the Amazon Conservation Association. Photo: Shelley Gardella

Members of the Liberty High School Rainforest Project, holding a check for $500 that they raised as a donation to ACA in spring 2009. The club works to educate the student body about the Amazon Rainforest, sponsoring Rainforest Appreciation Day at school, and making short films and other advertisements that are posted during the morning announcements. The club members have raised funds by donating their time during lunch periods on what the students like to call “Rainforest Fridays.” Photo: Liberty High School

Girls sorting seeds. Photo: ANIA

Scarlet and Blue and Yellow Macaws from Andre Bärtschi’s book, Where the Andes Meet the Amazon

Hidden waterfall in the Amazon. Photo: Luiz Claudio Marigo

Fish migrating upstream. Photo: Michael Goulding

Marcia Cleveland (right) on a visit to Peru. Photo: Amy Rosenthal