Flor Rumayna’s story is one of strength in the face of adversity and of understanding that without protecting nature, we can’t thrive.

Deep in the Amazon rainforest of Peru, Flor and her husband Gilberto have been running this forest-friendly lodge for many years now, right on the edge of Huitoto Lake. The lush Amazonian forest surrounding the lake is the main draw for adventurers looking to experience nature firsthand. 

But this is not paradise. 

Flor’s life has been threatened many times. This region is particularly affected by illegal activities like gold mining and logging, and because Flor has kept her forest pristine, many try to take its natural resources by force. 

Flor and her family have been fighting to protect this forest with all they have – but it hasn’t been enough. So, with the support of people like you, Friend of the Amazon, we stepped in to help.

Our Southwest Amazon Drone Center is training local landowners, indigenous communities, students, and government officials to use cutting-edge technology like satellite imagery, smartphone apps, and drones to monitor and stop deforestation. We provide locals the technology, knowledge, legal support and connections so they can safely and effectively take action on the ground.

 Flor is one of the first women in Peru to be certified as a drone pilot. With our support – and yours – she is leading the path for others to take charge of conservation in a safe and effective way.

Environmental education in madre de dios, Peru – Photo by ACCA

We expanded our environmental education initiative in the Madre de Dios region of Peru – an area heavily affected by illegal gold mining and deforestation. In 2018, we partnered with 5 educational institutions and have initially engaged 75 youth, between 10 to 16 years of age, in a unique environmental education program.

The program teaches kids how to use camera trap technology – from installation to data assessment – in order to understand the wildlife who share their forest home and dispel myths about them. Our local experts work with these young people to identify the species of animals they see on the camera traps and educate them on their significance and conservation value.

But the program doesn’t stop there. After analyzing information from camera trap images and videos, the kids create presentations on their findings and present them to others in their community including local government officials, helping them take a step to becoming true stewards of their forests.

By teaching kids about environmental protection early on, we not only inspire and train these conservationists of tomorrow, but they become the messengers of today by sharing this knowledge at home, affecting a change in attitude across all generations.

Tapir photographed with camera trap

Our camera trap efforts at Santa Rosa de Abuná are part of our larger camera trap initiative to monitor biodiversity in the Amazon. To date, we have recorded well over 10,000 photos and videos from our camera traps, which enable us to track the presence of a variety of fauna including large, predators like jaguar, that are indicators of a healthy ecosystem.

Some of the species captured on our 76 camera traps at Santa Rosa have an endangered status (Near Threatened or Vulnerable) according to the IUCN Red List, including Jaguars, Giant Anteaters, Tapirs, and Pale-winged trumpeters.

Giant Anteater photographed with camera trap

Showing consistent evidence of these species in our conservation area helps demonstrate to governments and others the need to protect the unique biodiversity that lives there. For instance, we have been able to show, through a density analysis of our camera trap efforts, that Santa Rosa and the indigenous territory of Tacana that we protect have a healthy jaguar population of 4.3-6.6 jaguars per every 100km² (39 miles²).

First melanistic jaguar photographed in Bolivia

Our camera trap efforts in Bolivia have also caught on camera a jaguar (Panthera onca) with a very unique complexion. The animal is a melanistic jaguar, a color morph which occurs at about 6 percent frequency in populations, giving it an almost “black” look that is a stark contrast to the species normal orange/ brown complexion. This is the first time this type of jaguar has ever been recorded in the entire country of Bolivia.

Promoting forest-friendly livelihoods that are safer, more profitable, and encourage conservation

We have been working with the açaí and Brazil nut harvesters, who depend on the Santa Rosa de Abuná conservation area for their livelihood, to improve how they locate, gather, and process the forest goods they sustainably harvest. This is a key conservation and community development strategy for providing local people with the incentive to keep forests standing, as many of the globally in-demand fruits and nuts they harvest can only grow in healthy forests – not in large-scale plantations. With this strategy in mind, we help families improve their income by growing their local economies through instituting ecologically sustainable activities that protect the forests they call home.

Açaí harvesters usually climb 10-15 açaí trees a day with heights reaching up to 65 feet to bring down bundles of açaí weighing dozens of pounds – a tiring and dangerous activity. In 2017, we worked hand-in-hand with community members to design and test prototypes of a safety harness that would meet their needs in the field. This year, we built on their experiences from the previous year’s harvest season and improved the design and features of the harnesses. We distributed 90 new climbing safety harnesses to harvesters in five communities of Santa Rosa. The beneficiaries were enthusiastic because the harness is much safer and more efficient to use. All of the harvesters were trained in how to use the equipment and began utilizing them immediately in the current harvesting season.

The new harnesses have already proved their value. One of the açaí harvesters, Omar Espinoza, used the new harness to climb a 50-foot high açaí tree, which he does on a daily basis during the harvest season in order to collect the fruit that generates almost all of his family’s income. Due to a misstep coming down the tree with a heavy branch of açaí in hand, Omar fell from a height of about 40 feet, head first. Thanks to one of the features in our safety harnesses – aptly called a “life line” – he was stopped from hitting the ground and just dangled from the harness instead. His head was just a few feet from the ground. Using the harness he had before this project would have meant a certain fall. Had it not been for this new equipment, he would have faced severe and debilitating injuries or possibly, death.

“This is a dangerous job, and there have been many accidents,” Tomás Espinoza, Omar’s dad, says. “No one knows it but us. At times we feel like we have been forgotten by the rest of the country. It’s good to have the support of [Amazon Conservation].”

Omar climbing an açaí trip using the new safety harness. The striped lifeline saved his life once already.

The migration of animals is one of the most studied phenomena by scientists, and one of the most anticipated events by nature lovers. This annual phenomenon, which is affected by many factors such as age, sex, resistance, and survival skills, involves animals leaving habitats in winter and reaching the ideal and warmest places for feeding and reproduction. Birds — with their ability to fly, a highly developed nervous system and a physiology that responds quickly to changes – use the changing seasons to their advantage, some traveling thousands of miles in search of habitats with the greatest amount of resources. The birds that arrive in South America from other regions are called neotropical migrants and studying exactly how and why these species move is one of the biggest challenges for researchers to understand.

Neotropical migrants nest in temperate zones of the continent and during the winter they move towards or within the Amazon, and are called either boreal migrants (coming from the north) or austral (coming from the south). Knowing this crucial detail is key for implementing future conservation efforts, as it tells us which habitats need to be protected for birds to be able to migrate.

Amazon Conservation directly protects nearly 10,000 acres of forest at Wayqecha and Villa Carmen, two of its three birding lodges located on the eastern slope of the Peruvian Andes. The pristine cloud forest and premontane forest habitats found there are threatened by agricultural expansion, illegal logging, and climate change. There are currently 32 species of migratory birds found at our lodges, with Villa Carmen topping the list with a whopping 26 species, including 11 boreal migrants (such as Barn Swallow, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Sulphur Bellied Flycatcher, and even an Upland Sandpiper, which travels over 6,000 miles every year to reach South America) and 15 austral species. Wayqecha has 6 boreal species, including the Blackburnian Warbler during the months of September to April, who trades the coniferous forests of the northern hemisphere for the cloud forests of South America, traveling over 5,000 miles, and only at night. You can also see the Golden-winged Warbler, Swainson’s Thrush and Broad-winged Hawk.

Extensive trails at each lodge take you deep into the forest, making it possible to observe these friendly “guests.” By conserving these forests, we are protecting bird diversity not only in the Amazon, but across continents.