AmazonTEC 2020: Science and Technology for a Sustainable Amazon
AmazonTEC is a premier forum for discussing science and technology’s connection to policy and governance in the Amazon. Developed by Amazon Conservation’s Peruvian sister organization Conservación Amazónica – ACCA, AmazonTEC brought together forest users, technology experts, NGOs, governments, and other stakeholders in a forum to discuss the use of cutting-edge technology (satellites, mobile apps, drones, and more) in the advancement of public policy for environmental protection in the Amazon.
In this 2020 edition, the event was virtual, with five interactive webinars. With support from Norad, Amazon Conservation hosted its first-ever English-language session as part of AmazonTEC.
Watch the recording: Building a Sustainable Amazon Through Science, Technology, and Governance
Amazon Conservation and a host of technology, government, and science experts came together on November 12, 2020 for an English-language live panel on the value and future of technology for fighting deforestation and how it can be used by governments and local people to protect forests and resources. Download the full agenda.
This event included speakers and panelists from government agencies in Peru, Colombia, and Norway; and experts from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, WWF, NASA, FENAMAD, Amazon Conservation, and our Peruvian sister organization Conservación Amazónica – ACCA. View our full speakers’ list with bios and their presentations below.
Speakers and panelists are shown in order of appearance. Click on a photo to show the full biography and (if they were a panelist) to watch their presentation.
John Beavers
Executive Director, Amazon Conservation
Henrik Fliflet
Senior Adviser, Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal
Leader of the Climate & Energy Global Practice, World Wildlife Fund
Enrique Ortiz
Senior Program Director, Andes Amazon Fund
Dan Irwin
Research Scientist, NASA and Global Program Manager, SERVIR
Matt Finer
Director of the Monitoring for the Andean Amazon Project, Amazon Conservation
Sidney Novoa
Conservación Amazónica - ACCA
Adrian Forsyth
Strategic Advisor, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Daniel Rodriguez
Technical Advisor, FENAMAD Indigenous Federation
Flor Rumayna
Local Sustainable Business Owner and Forest Guardian in Peru
Fabiola Muñoz
Peru's Former Minister of the Environment
Hector Gonzalez
Technical Advisor, IDEAM (Colombia)
John Beavers
John Beavers is the Executive Director of Amazon Conservation Association. John has spent his career focused on conservation in Latin America ranging from on-the-ground conservation in the Maya Forest of Guatemala, Belize and Mexico to strengthening conservation organizations across Latin America. Prior to starting with Amazon Conservation in 2019, he spent seven years leading Audubon's international conservation efforts to protect key bird habitats and biodiversity in Latin America and the Caribbean. He served as the Master of Ceremony for the English-language panel of AmazonTEC 2020.
Henrik Fliflet
Henrik Fliflet is the Senior Adviser at Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI), a program of the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment. At AmazonTEC 2020, he provided welcome remarks and announced a brand new conservation technology initiative from Norway's
Kongsberg Satellite Services (KST).
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal is the Leader of the Climate & Energy Global Practice of World Wild Fund for Nature International. As the former Minister of Environment of Peru, he has a long history of supporting conservation in the Amazon, including as President of the UN Climate Convention’s Twentieth Conference of the Parties (COP 20). Manuel gave opening and closing remarks at AmazonTEC, contextualizing why and how technologies can be used for conservation.
Enrique Ortiz
Enrique Ortiz is one of Peru’s most respected conservationists, having established one of the first environmental groups in Peru (APECO). He's currently the Senior Program Director for the Andes Amazon Fund, and is a Co-Founder of Amazon Conservation and its Peruvian sister organization Conservación Amazónica-ACCA. He served as the moderator for the English-language session of AmazonTEC 2020.
Dan Irwin
Dan Irwin is a research scientist at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the global Program Manager for SERVIR — a flagship NASA and US Agency for International Development (USAID) program with activities in over 40 countries throughout Africa and Latin America. He has over 25 years of experience in satellite remote sensing applications and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the developing world. As a panelist in our Technology Solutions for Conservation panel, Dan presented on the value and range of technology needs based on his experience in the NASA/ SERVIR initiative in the Amazon.
Matt Finer
Matt Finer is a Senior Researcher at Amazon Conservation and the Director of its Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project and continues to manage the program - a program he established in 2015 which now monitors 83% of the Amazon Rainforest in real-time using satellites. Prior to joining Amazon Conservation, he was a Project Scientist for the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) Sustainable Loreto project and Staff Ecologist at Save America’s Forests. As a panelist in our Technology Solutions for Conservation panel, Matt presented on the use of satellite technology to monitor and report deforestation and fires across the Amazon basin in real-time, and how this technology can lead to direct action on the ground.
Sidney Novoa
Sidney Novoa is the GIS and Technology for Conservation Director for our Peruvian sister organization Conservación Amazónica-ACCA, where he focuses on the application of technology solutions to monitor forest health and threats to the Amazon. A biologist by trade, he has more than 10 years of experience as a researcher on natural resources use and wildlife and threat monitoring at private and government agencies in Peru. As a panelist in our Technology Solutions for Conservation panel, Sidney presented technologies that can complement and fill gaps in real-time satellite monitoring of the Amazon, such as the integration of big data apps like Google Earth Engine, special algorithms to detect selective logging, and radar technology to detect illegal gold mining.
Adrian Forsyth
Adrian Forsyth is the Co-Founder of Amazon Conservation, holds a Harvard PhD in tropical ecology, has authored nine books on tropical forests and natural history, and has 30 years of conservation experience in the region. He currently serves as a Strategic Advisor for the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Andes Amazon Fund, focusing on conservation technology. As a panelist in our Technology Solutions for Conservation panel, Adrian presented on a variety of science and technology tools for conservation, including citizen science, smartphone applications, acoustic monitoring, and eDNA.
Daniel Rodriguez
Daniel Rodriguez Fernandez is an expert in working with Indigenous Peoples in the area of conservation and natural resources protection. He currently serves as Technical Advisor to FENAMAD, the Indigenous Federation of the Madre de Dios River and Accolades, one of the most prominent Indigenous groups in Peru. As a panelist in our Technology Solutions for Conservation panel, Daniel presented on how local people have been using technology for conservation on the ground in the Amazon.
Flor Rumayna
Flor Rumayna is a local sustainable business owner in Peru, where she manages an ecotourism concession with her family. As a front-line guardian of the forest, Flor is one of the first women in her home country to be trained and licensed to pilot drones for conservation. As a panelist in our Technology Solutions for Conservation panel, Flor will gave her perspective on how technology has changed the way she is protecting her forest concession via a pre-recorded video with English subtitles.
Fabiola Muñoz
Fabiola Muñoz Dodero is a Peruvian attorney with a passion for conservation, having served terms as Minister of the Environment, Minister of Agriculture, and the Executive Director of Peru's National Forest and Wildlife Service (SERFOR). She has also served as a Board Member of our Peruvian sister organization Conservación Amazónica - ACCA. As a panelist in our Bridging the Gap: Technology, Governance, and Action panel, Fabiola spoke about how the Peruvian government has been using technology as the base of its innovative "National System of Control and Monitoring" and its success story of Operation Mercury.
Hector Gonzalez
Hector Gonzalez is a Technical Advisor at Colombia's government agency "Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology, and Environmental Studies" (IDEAM). He was a panelist in our Bridging the Gap: Technology, Governance, and Action panel but unfortunately was not able to present during the conference.
Want to attend AmazonTEC 2021 or other events about science, technology, governance, and conservation?
AmazonTEC features Spanish-language sessions on a variety of topics related to science, technology, conservation, and forest governance, on October 27, 28, 29, and November 10. Visit our sister organization Conservación Amazónica – ACCA’s page for more information.
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