Conservación Amazónica–ACCA, Amazon Conservation’s sister organization in Peru, held two workshops alongside geospatial scientists from the University of Richmond’s Amazon Frontier Spatial Analysis (ABSAT) team on June 9-10 and June 13-17 through ACCA’s partnership with the SERVIR-Amazonia program, an initiative of USAID and NASA. The goals of both workshops included showing how to analyze geospatial data and how to use geospatial science to detect ecosystem changes across borders and in indigenous landscapes.

The first workshop, “Ecosystem Services and Socio-Environmental Dynamics in Indigenous Landscapes,” took place on June 9 and 10 in the town of Puerto Breu in east-central Peru near the border with Brazil. In attendance were 122 indigenous leaders and representatives from 13 different Amazonian ethnic groups from Peru and Brazil. The workshop, led by the team from the University of Richmond, focused on how geospatial science can detect changes in Amazonian ecosystems as a result of alterations in the forest surface and these effects relate to climate change.

During the two-day event, indigenous representatives and leaders participated in activities to aid in recognizing and understanding the changes that their forests are undergoing. Participants learned about evapotranspiration, which is the way in which trees remove water from their bark as a result of tree respiration, and how this process has been altered due to climate change, resulting in forest degradation and the loss of the ecosystem services they offer.

The knowledge shared also included how the geospatial applications, known as “dashboards”, developed by the University of Richmond’s ABSAT team, work as information management tools to interactively monitor and analyze indicators and fundamental data related to deforestation, degradation, evapotranspiration, temperature, and precipitation in the cross-border area and territories between Peru and Brazil.

“The dashboard allows anyone to model or simulate a situation in which, for example, if forest is lost or if forest is transformed into another type of cover, what would be the consequences of this loss. If this could cause an increase in temperature, evapotranspiration reduction or water reduction,” said David Salisbury, leader of the University of Richmond’s ABSAT team.

David Salisbury, a professor at the University of Richmond, teaches representatives of different indigenous groups to read geospatial data and maps.

Through this workshop, we recognized the importance of collecting and incorporating the ancestral knowledge of the indigenous peoples of the Yuruá River basin. Given that they are the guardians of the forest, their knowledge and perspective may be able to identify blind spots that technology is not capable of identifying. For this reason, indigenous participation and ancestral knowledge are important contributions in developing the geospatial tool.

“Today, new generations are more prepared to face climate change, not only because of the tools that science provides them, but also because of the teachings to be the new leaders and guardians of this great forest – which is the Amazon – that they have learned from their parents and grandparents,” said María Elena Paredes, an Asháninka indigenous leader.

The second geospatial science workshop took place on June 13-17 on the campus of the National University of Ucayali in Pucallpa, Peru and focused on Cross-Border Corridors and Ecosystem Services of the Southwestern Amazon. The workshop included an overview of geospatial science and how it can help communities face climate change as well as the results of the ABSAT team’s latest geospatial research. There were 40 participants in attendance, including GIS analysts from local and national government entities from Peru and Brazil.

These workshops were made possible thanks to the valuable support of USAID. In addition, the technical and logistical needs were provided thanks to the work of various organizations including Conservacion Amazónica–ACCA and Upper Amazon Conservancy, and the workshops themselves were carried out with the support of representatives from SERVIR-Amazonía, the University of Richmond, and NASA.

On Thursday, June 16, Amazon Conservation inaugurated our gallery exhibit “A Changing Amazon: Climate Change and Conservation Solutions in the Amazon” at the Embassy of Peru in Washington, DC. The gallery exhibit, now open to the public through August 17, gives a visual retrospection of our work in Peru, explains how climate is affecting the Amazon, the role of Indigenous peoples in conservation, and showcases our conservation solutions in the region.

The gallery opening event included a cocktail reception with Peruvian fare and more than 40 guests including colleagues from the Norwegian and Peruvian Embassies, partners from IDB, USAID, World Bank, IUCN, an other organizations, as well as some of our most loyal supporters.

The highlight of the evening were the special remarks from the Peruvian Embassy, Bruce Babbitt, the former Governor of Arizona and former Secretary of the Interior; and Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, President of the COP 20 UN Climate Convention, former Peruvian Minister of the Environment, current Leader of the Climate and Energy Global Practice of World Wild Fund for Nature International, and recently-appointed Chair of IUCN’s newly established Climate Crisis Commission.

To kick us off, Germán Prado, Cultural Attaché for the Embassy of Peru, spoke on behalf of the Peruvian Ambassador, Oswaldo de Rivero, who unfortunately was ill and could not attend the event, expressing the importance of the Amazon for climate change and the Peruvian government’s support of conservation efforts to become a model for forest governance.

We then heard motivating words of wisdom from Bruce Babbitt, who reflected on how the beauty of the Amazon initially inspired him to support conservation efforts and how Amazon Conservation’s innovative conservation models centering science, technology, and local peoples has made him a long-time supporter of our work. Bruce also highlighted how working closely with governments like Peru and Norway has been a key to our long-term success on the ground.

John Beavers, Amazon Conservation’s Executive Director, spoke next, reflecting on how the photos in the gallery exhibit reminded him of the Amazon’s incomparable natural beauty as well as its fragility and how quickly it can all disappear without swift action and climate-smart conservation solutions. Spurred on by the desire to protect this fragile ecosystem, John described how Amazon Conservation is working on the ground to empower local people and governments to protect the forests on which they depend through forest-based economies that can better adapt to the changing climate and improved governance to mitigate the main drivers of deforestation.

Finally, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal provided an uplifting outlook on climate solutions and the future of the Amazon. As Manuel has seen in his work with WWF, COP 20, and now IUCN’s Climate Crisis Commission, organizations like Amazon Conservation are evolving and building climate into their work, and he believes that Amazon Conservation is doing the work that is needed to scale up climate and conservation solutions in our efforts to bring our climate-smart conservation solutions to more communities and countries across the region.

The gallery exhibit is open to the public during business hours at the Embassy of Peru in DC now through August 17.

Amazon Conservation would like to thank the Embassy of Peru in DC and Ambassador Oswaldo de Rivero for their support in hosting our “A Changing Amazon” exhibit and opening reception.