This month, our Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Program (MAAP) released two major reports on illegal gold mining in two of the Amazon’s most critical territories: the Yanomami Indigenous Territory in Brazil and the Tambopata National Reserve in Peru. The findings are both encouraging and deeply alarming. Brazil: Progress in Yanomami, but miners are adapting […]

Put Science and Technology to Work

Earlier this month, Amazon Conservation joined climate and forest leaders from around the world at the 16th Annual Meeting of the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF Task Force), held in Caquetá, Colombia from May 18–22, 2026. The GCF Task Force unites 45 subnational governments across 11 countries, representing more than a third of […]

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Flying rivers that sustain forests, agriculture, and water security across the Amazon are increasingly at risk from deforestation and infrastructure expansion. The white paper, Keeping the Flying Rivers Flowing: How Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Threatens Rainfall in Peru and Bolivia, released by Amazon Conservation, maps for the first time the flying rivers that span […]

Illegal mining–driven deforestation reached its peak in 2022, when roughly 1,800 hectares were cleared. In 2025, monitoring still identified an additional 45.2 hectares of new forest loss.  Deforestation driven by illegal mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory has dropped sharply over the past three years, following a surge in 2021 and 2022. That’s the conclusion […]

Satellite monitoring shows more than 500 hectares of forest lost and nearly a thousand people involved in illegal mining operating inside the Tambopata National Reserve.  The advance of illegal mining continues, encroaching ever closer to government-run control posts within the protected area.  Seven years after the historic Operación Mercurio was launched, illegal gold mining has […]

From April 21–24, leaders from across the Amazon gathered in Lima, Peru, for the first-ever summit of the Amazon Gold Alliance (AGA), a collaborative network working to address the environmental, social, and economic impacts of gold mining in the Amazon. The summit, hosted by Amazon Aid, brought together more than 50 representatives from civil society […]

After documenting the ongoing presence of illegal mining on indigenous territories in the Xingu region of the Brazilian Amazon, a new analysis shows that the activity also occurs in protected areas in the region, increasing the pressure on one of the most strategic territories for forest conservation. The new report from the MAAP initiative (Monitoring […]

Put Science and Technology to Work Press Releases MAAP Reports

Between January and September 2025, a total of 335 hectares, an area comparable to about 530 soccer fields, were deforested due to illegal mining in Indigenous Territories within the Xingu River Basin, between the states of Mato Grosso and Pará in the Brazilian Amazon. The analysis indicates that isolated enforcement actions have not been sufficient […]

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Smart Ways to Give After Tax Season (and Make Your Impact Go Further) Tax season has ended, but the work of protecting the Amazon has not. At Amazon Conservation, safeguarding one of the most vital ecosystems on Earth means preserving biodiversity, supporting Indigenous and local communities, and helping address global climate challenges year-round. Even today, […]