On July 21, Amazon Conservation and our sister organization, Conservación Amazónica-ACCA, partnered with FENAMAD – Native Federation of the Madre de Dios River and Tributaries (Federación Nativa del Río Madre de Dios y Afluentes) to lead the “Training in Technological Tools and Satellite Monitoring in Indigenous Communities” in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, focused on satellite monitoring and geospatial analysis.

The workshop brought together FENAMAD’s technical and legal team, focusing on the staff that goes to visit the communities and work close to the veedores. The objective was to build their capacity to detect and report the analysis to threats, such as illegal mining, logging, and land invasions, using remote sensing tools and legal strategies.

Participants explored key platforms as the analysis using Planet (monthly, daily and Skysat) and Sentinel; and went over other tools like RAMI (from Conservación Amazónica-ACCA), Amazon Mining Watch, and LandTrendr (Amazon Conservation MAAP’s Initiative) that are very useful for the mining detection. The goal is to strengthen Indigenous-led monitoring efforts and ensure community alerts can translate into timely and coordinated responses. 

“The goal is to protect the lives and integrity of Indigenous leaders, because they are the ones most exposed. When a threat is reported, the Federation immediately brings the case to the attention of the public prosecutor’s office”, explains Juan Soto, legal advisor at FENAMAD. The participation of the legal office in the training was key to better understanding how this information is created and receiving their input on what else is needed to work coordinated. “Providing legal security to Indigenous communities has been essential. We’re giving them a real tool to safeguard their rights and physical integrity.”

The work of community monitors, known as veedores comunales, is central to this system. “To protect something, you need to know and build a connection to it. Indigenous forest monitors have a direct relationship with the forest. Their cosmovisión shapes how they see the landscape differently from those of us in the city”, says Piero Rengifo, FENAMAD’s GIS and remote sensing specialist. “But it’s a two-way process; the community’s knowledge is just as vital as the tech. That perspective is key to long-term protection.”

“Monitors alert us to potential threats, and we verify them through the technical team,” adds Joan Aslla, also from FENAMAD’s technical specialists. “This monitoring reduce risks for those on the frontlines and ensures we escalate confirmed cases to the authorities.”

According to Dr. Soto, this coordinated work, powered by community alerts, satellite validation, and legal advocacy, including the Fiscalia’s support, is already impacting on the ground. “Thanks to our collaboration with Amazon Conservation, Conservación Amazónica-ACCA, and support from donors, we’ve successfully stopped illegal activities, obtained prosecutions, and strengthened our relationships with environmental enforcement agencies.”

As part of the training, participants worked on creating standardized templates and protocols that could be shared across FENAMAD’s network of 38 communities. In the future, the project aims to replicate and scale the process, enabling more Indigenous territories to manage and monitoring on satellite data in real-time.

For Nadia Mamani, Senior Geospatial Analyst & Partner Strategy Lead at Amazon Conservation, the initiative’s power lies in its ability to bridge technology, law, and traditional knowledge. “This integration is essential to reversing the spread of illegal activities and supporting Indigenous-led conservation.”

“Technology empowers,” Rengifo adds, “but it’s the deep cultural and ancestral connection that Indigenous people have with the forest that ensures it will be protected for future generations.”

The workshop, made possible through the support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and Norad, is part of a growing effort to equip Indigenous communities with remote sensing technology and legal pathways to protect the forests they call home.

Every day, throughout the Amazon rainforest, forest rangers rise before dawn. They lace up their boots, check their gear, and set out into one of the most biodiverse, as well as threatened, ecosystems on Earth. On World Ranger Day (July 31), we honor their commitment to safeguarding nature, often under difficult and dangerous conditions.

In the Amazon, rangers are much more than protectors of trees. They are guardians of biodiversity, of Indigenous lands, and oftentimes first responders to threats like illegal logging, mining, and fires. Their presence helps ensure that the forest and the people who depend on it, can continue to thrive.

“I love nature, I love the environment, and I love protecting it. I also help guide visitors, reminding them to care for the forest and take their waste with them.”
— Yolanda Quispe Higuera, park ranger from Phinaya, Cusco, Peru, that works our sister organization Conservación Amazónica-ACCA

Through our Amazon Conservation Alliance, made up of Amazon Conservation (U.S.), Conservación Amazónica–ACCA (Peru), and Conservación Amazónica–ACEAA (Bolivia), we work with local park and forest rangers across the region, equipping them with the tools, training, and technology they need to succeed. From GPS and drones to satellite data, we provide modern tools that complement their deep knowledge of the land, allowing them to monitor vast forest areas, identify early signs of deforestation, and respond quickly and safely to emergencies.

Yet for many rangers, what motivates them is not the gear – it’s the mission. Rangers across the Amazon face growing risks: extreme weather, limited access to remote areas, and organized environmental crime. But they continue to show up, day after day, because they know what’s at stake.

This World Ranger Day, we invite you to stand with them.

By supporting our work, you’re helping us expand ranger programs, train new people, and ensure that forest guardians have the support they need to keep the Amazon standing, for wildlife, for climate, and all of us.

Photo: Yolanda Quispe Higuera, park ranger from Phinaya, Cusco, Peru | Credits: Fernanda Lacerda

From the roots of an açaí palm to the canopy where monkeys swing and toucans call, the Amazon is alive with food — not just for the animals that call it home, but for people around the world.

On World Rainforest Day (June 22nd), we’re honoring the vital connection between forests and food. In the Amazon, this connection is woven into every tree, animal, and community.

Açaí berries, pollinated by bees and beetles, nourish families and fuel local economies. The towering palma real trees feed tapirs, deer, and rodents, who return the favor by spreading its seeds. Brazil nuts take over a year to ripen and rely on bees and agoutis for their survival in a delicate, ancient partnership. And the cacao and cupuaçu palm trees, cared for by generations of Indigenous and forest communities, offer us cacao and chocolate in flavors as rich as the forest they come from.

These foods are more than just products. They’re part of a living system that supports over 16,000 tree species, 390 million individual trees, and countless lives.

But that system is under threat.

Deforestation and climate change are unraveling the delicate web that makes the Amazon the world’s greatest rainforest and one of its greatest food sources. When we lose the forest, we don’t just lose trees. We lose pollinators. We lose livelihoods. We lose nourishment. We lose balance.

This World Rainforest Day, take action to protect the forest that unites and feeds us.

Your support helps us defend forests from illegal mining, fires, and deforestation while uplifting the communities who care for them. Together, we can ensure that the Amazon continues to thrive, not just for its own sake, but for the future of food, climate, and life itself.

[Donate now] to keep the Amazon thriving and resilient.

We’re proud to announce that we’ve earned the 2025 Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest level of recognition for nonprofit accountability and openness!

At Amazon Conservation, we believe that protecting the Amazon rainforest goes hand in hand with building trust. That’s why we make it a priority to share clear, comprehensive information about who we are, how we work, and the impact we’re making across the Amazon basin.

This Platinum Seal from Candid – the leading source of nonprofit data, previously GuideStar – reflects our ongoing commitment to transparency. From our program outcomes and leadership to financial information and strategic goals, our profile gives you an open window into how your donations drive real impact on the ground.

As we face growing environmental challenges and shifts in global weather patterns, we know that transparency, collaboration, and trust are more important than ever. This recognition is a testament to the collective effort of our team, donors, partners, and supporters – and to our dedication to making our mission visible, impactful, and measurable, every step of the way.

Thank you for standing with us in protecting the Amazon.

Learn more: https://app.candid.org/profile/7790364/amazon-conservation-association-52-2211305 

Last week, staff members from our Alliance, comprised of Amazon Conservation, Conservación Amazónica – ACCA, and Conservación Amazónica – ACEAA attended the 15th Annual meeting of the Governors’ Climate & Forests Task Force (GCF Task Force) in Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil. The event this year set up essential  discussions regarding the co-construction of a New Forest Economy that strengthens forest protection, supports land restoration, and fosters sustainable economic growth and job opportunities across the region.

The GCF Task Force was established in 2008 to bring together a coalition of states and provinces across 11 countries to safeguard tropical forests and advance practical approaches to rural development that preserve these forests. Today, it’s the world’s largest platform for this type of subnational collaboration dedicated to tropical forest protection, consolidating a network of entities to support strong environmental governance, green financing, protection of territorial rights, and the well-being of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to strategize effective subnational, national, and international pathways for sustainable economic development that supports livelihoods and reduces deforestation.

Similar to our community-integrated approach to conservation that empowers local people, our Alliance has been working to build a forest-based economy in Peru and Bolivia for the past 10+ years, and is currently working on expanding these efforts into Brazil. We consider this approach to be one of the most effective ways to avoid forest conversion in the long term by providing economic opportunities that rely on standing forests. 

This year’s annual meeting marked an important step forward for Amazon Conservation, as our Alliance hosted a special side event called “People at the Center of Bioeconomic Transitions: Uniting Small Producers, Indigenous Peoples, and Local Communities,” to share progress updates on the development of the bioeconomy and facilitate dialogues between local producers in the Madre de Dios (Peru), Acre (Brazil), and Pando (Bolivia) regions of the Amazon. “My family lives inside the Chico Mendes Reserve here in Acre. Mother Nature feeds us, so we must treat her with care. What we need now are credit lines that actually reach our cooperatives. We discussed that capital is one of the missing pieces for communities like ours”, emphasized Vanusa Ferreira, one of the leaders at Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve. 

The exchange of experiences among producers of these countries sparked fresh hope and a collaborative spirit grounded in shared missions. As Manoel de Jesus, President of the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve Association, said, “We’re going home energized. The proposals shaped here, together with partners from Peru, Bolivia, and beyond, show that when we stand united, we have a bright future.” 

Marcos Terán, Executive Director of Conservación Amazónica – ACEAA in Bolivia, added that “bringing producers from Peru and Bolivia to share lessons in Brazil charts a common road toward a forest-based bioeconomy. The southwestern Amazon is not just productive land, it’s a climate engine. Solutions must start with local actors to get them scaled up.”

This session also included engagement from private sector company representatives and investors who have integrated investing in Amazonian organizations and/or communities that harvest forest-based products, connecting small-scale producers and Indigenous communities with potential business partners. As discussions progressed, participants reflected on the challenges of investing in cross-border supply chains and climate adaptation, exploring strategic opportunities for joint impact, and implementing best practices to strengthen sustainable development for the bioeconomy. As we aim to expand these efforts into the productive forests of Brazil, this side event acted as a key space to further boost and support local initiatives that can bolster local producers’ entrance into the global non-timber forest product market. 

“A key insight from these dialogues is that increasing the value of Amazonian forest products, through integrated, internationally recognized supply chains, is vital for long-term forest conservation and for livelihoods that truly value and empower local communities,” concluded Blaise Bodin, Director of Strategy & Policy at Amazon Conservation.

Last week, Amazon Conservation Co-Founder Dr. Adrian Forsyth joined our Peruvian sister organization, Conservación Amazónica-ACCA, for a special event to celebrate the launch of the Spanish edition of his book, Tropical Nature (Naturaleza Tropical), which transforms the ecological complexity of tropical forests into captivating stories about nature that Forsyth witnessed himself during various expeditions throughout the Amazon biome. As a scientist, writer, and conservation leader, Forsyth has inspired generations of conservationists through his vivid vision and unwavering dedication to the Amazon and the Neotropics—regions that are vital to understanding our planet’s ecological health and shaping global conservation strategies. 

Tropical Nature offers a unique perspective on the intricate ecological functions of the Neotropics, meant to inspire generations of biologists and naturalists to learn more about the interconnectedness of plant and animal species with human welfare. Forsyth writes in the book’s introduction, “Our purpose is not merely to set down a compendium of interesting facts about tropical nature, but to provoke curiosity about how such a complex world might function and how it might have evolved.” He later wrote, “We felt a need for a book addressing the natural history of tropical rainforests that would be accessible to the legion of naturalists and interested laymen in the temperate zone who might wish to learn something of this remarkable world today.” Now, the Spanish edition of this iconic book can reach a new audience of conservationists located in and around one of the world’s most significant Neotropical regions. 

The event “An Afternoon For Conservation with Adrian Forsyth,” hosted in Lima, Peru, celebrated the official launch of Naturaleza Tropical, and recognized Forsyth’s more than forty years of dedication to exploring and conserving this vital region that inspired this book. The event began with welcoming remarks from María Elena Gutiérrez, Executive Director of Conservación Amazónica-ACCA, who highlighted Forsyth’s profound impact on the protection of tropical forests and the formation of a global community of scientists and conservationists committed to the Amazon. She also extended special thanks to The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, whose generous support made it possible to publish this renowned work in Spanish. Key figures of the conservation world, including Amazon Conservation Co-Founder Enrique Ortiz; Avecita Chicchón and Aileen Lee of The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; and prominent international scientists such as Miles Silman, Michael Goulding, Russell Mittermeier, and John Terborgh, also shared moving accounts of Forsyth’s prolific accomplishments and his influence on their lives and careers.

Corine Vriesendorp, Conservacion Amazonica-ACCA’s Director of Science, led the presentation of Naturaleza Tropical, followed by a special appearance by photographer and editor Walter Wust, who highlighted how Forsyth invites us, through his written lines, to marvel at the simple things in life and nature. The event also featured a panel with Peruvian university professors who discussed the book’s relevance to the current challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as its impact on new generations of conservationists. 

“This book is a masterpiece. The way it describes dung beetles is fascinating, and I found the chapter on canyons of light fantastic. The epiphytes, the small details… everything is told with unique sensibility,” remarked Marc Dourojeanni, Professor Emeritus at the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, during the event. “Not much is written at this level in Spanish; this edition will allow many technocrats, students, park rangers, and guides to better understand what they observe. It is the universe of the minuscule, of patient observation. There are many imprecise interpretations out there, and this work helps restore wonder and respect for tropical nature.” 

Forsyth shared how a National Geographic article from the 1960s about the Vilcabamba mountain range in Peru that he read at the age of 13 shaped his desire to pursue a career in conservation. He recalled how that first encounter with the Amazon eventually drew him deep into its heart – trekking in muddy boots, with no map or fixed plan, guided only by a single purpose: to protect it. He spoke of his deep devotion to Peru, describing how a place that once felt like a distant dream became the center of his life thanks to the support of people, such as Peruvian environmentalist Carlos Ponce del Prado, among many others who accompanied him along his journey. Forsyth also highlighted the importance of Peru’s system of natural protected areas, a unique model for conservation that the world should follow. 

Adrian Forsyth receiving a gift in recognition of this prolific career

In his closing remarks at the event, Forsyth issued an important call to action: “In a world where new generations are growing up increasingly disconnected from nature, if this book inspires even one more person to explore the tropics and fight for their protection, then it will have been worthwhile.” In recognition of his legacy, Forsyth received a sculpture of the “Blue Beast of Death,” or dung beetle, one of the species he studied the most throughout his life. As the largest coprophagous beetle in South America, the dung beetle plays a crucial role in recycling nutrients and thus symbolizes the health of forests.

We at Amazon Conservation are extremely proud to celebrate the vision that our Co-Founders, Dr. Adrian Forsyth and Enrique Ortiz, planted more than 25 years ago: to create an organization dedicated to protecting the planet’s most diverse landscapes, training new conservation leaders, and working alongside communities for a sustainable future. Today, we, along with our sister organizations, Conservación Amazonica–ACCA and Conservación Amazonica–ACEAA, continue to work towards making this dream a reality by promoting high-level scientific research and fostering ways of living in harmony with the Amazon ecosystem. Our vision for a prosperous,  resilient, and thriving Amazon remains resolute, and the inspiration of leaders like Dr. Adrian Forsyth paves our path towards effective conservation solutions with hope, commitment, and determination. 

Watch the recording for “An Afternoon for Conservation with Adrian Forsyth.”

As gold prices continue to increase, small-scale gold mining activity continues to be one of the major deforestation drivers across the Amazon, often targeting remote areas and impacting carbon-rich primary forests. These mining activities are presumed to be illegal based on their location in conservation areas (such as protected areas and Indigenous territories) and outside mining concessions.

Given the Amazon’s vastness, it has been challenging to monitor mining deforestation accurately and regularly across all nine countries to better inform related policies in a timely manner. To address this challenge, Amazon Conservation, in partnership with Earth Genome and the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network, created Amazon Mining Watch: an AI-powered dashboard to address this challenge. This online tool analyzes satellite imagery to estimate annual and cumulative mining deforestation across the entire Amazon, providing actionable data for management and conservation purposes in near real-time at national and regional levels.

In a previous report on the Amazon Mining Watch dashboard, MAAP #212,  we presented the initial results of mining activities from  2018 to 2024. Our newest report, MAAP #226, presents an update focused on the newly added 2024 data.

This report highlights several major findings:

• Gold mining is actively causing deforestation in all nine countries of the Amazon. This impact is concentrated in three major areas: southeast Brazil, the Guyana Shield, and southern Peru. In addition, mining in Ecuador is escalating.
• The cumulative mining deforestation footprint in 2024 was over 2 million hectares (nearly 5 million acres) and has increased by over 50% in the past six years.
• Over half of all Amazon mining deforestation occurred in Brazil, followed by Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, and Peru.
• While the cumulative footprint continues to grow, the rate of increase slowed in 2024 after peaking in 2022, likely due to increased enforcement in Brazil. In 2024, we documented the new gold mining deforestation of 111,603 hectares (275,777 acres). This total represents a decrease of 45% relative to the peak year 2022.
• Over one-third of the mining deforestation has occurred within protected areas and Indigenous territories, where much of it is likely illegal. The top nine most impacted protected areas are all in Brazil, led by the Tapajós Environmental Protection Area. The three most impacted Indigenous territories are also in Brazil (Kayapó, Mundurucu, and Yanomami), followed by territories in Venezuela and southern Peru.
• These results have important policy implications, and we discuss examples in Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador.

Read the full report.

Seeing the drastic effects that deforestation has had on the Amazon, many Amazonian nations have begun to coordinate responses for stronger environmental protection, resulting in increased political and financial commitments for conservation initiatives in the Amazon. In 2023’s Belém Declaration (an agreement signed by leaders across 8 Amazonian countries to promote regional cooperation and strengthen environmental governance to protect the Amazon), these nations agreed to “combine the efforts of their governments […] to avoid the point of no return in the Amazon.” However, the challenges to sustain these developments under extractive, and often unsustainable, economies have raised a new question: how can we evaluate and track the progress of these initiatives and their impacts to ensure conservation goals are being met? 

As the international community’s attention turns to the Amazon once again leading up to this year’s COP30 in Belém, Brazil, many civil society organizations are increasingly recognizing the need for an evaluation method to assess the gap between scientific recommendations to avoid a tipping point, the ambitions stated by regional governments, and the actual policies implemented to garner solutions at national and sub-national levels. Through the Amazon Conservation Alliance (comprised of Amazon Conservation, Conservación Amazónica – ACCA, and Conservación Amazónica – ACEAA) and its vast network of partners, we have developed a unique concept: creating an ‘Amazon Gap Report’ to assess how the policies and regulations in place align with specific conservation objectives. From these reports, civil society and NGOs can help devise recommendations on how to fill any potential gaps in achieving these goals. Essentially, this gap report can act as a ‘scorecard’ for various Amazonian nations, and could evolve into a regular annual exercise to track progress and link science, policy, and improvements over time. 

Earlier this month, our Director of Strategy and Policy Blaise Bodin, attended a meeting in Rondônia, Brazil, with our partners Instituto Centro de Vida (ICV), to discuss the potential of this scorecard system and its implementation leading up to COP30. The organization had previously been working on a localized observatory in the state of Mato Grasso, which would act as a communication platform for civil society, NGOs, and local people to exchange data on deforestation happening in the Amazon. Upon hearing of a potential Amazon-wide version of this, and seeing successes from platforms of similar use such as the Amazon Mining Watch and Clean Air NDC Scorecard, members of ICV brought together partners across the region to assess the relevance of this scorecard system for state-level action, evaluate how existing initiatives to can contribute to new methodologies and input data for this system, and define the priorities and processes for developing evaluation criteria. Furthermore, as Amazon Conservation anticipates its expansion of our iconic landscapes into the productive forests of Brazil to widen the scale of our forest-based economy efforts, partnering with these NGOs can help establish our regional presence in Brazil as a leading conservation organization, increasing our impacts on the ground across the Amazon.

When it comes to developing conservation solutions for the Amazon, creating common methodologies can often be difficult given the complex political contexts across different Amazonian countries. “A central component of these ‘scorecards’ is developing a standardized framework to evaluate the ambition and effectiveness of governments at all levels across the Amazon, which must be both comparable across multiple jurisdictions and capable of generating insights at the regional scale,” explains Blaise. To ensure that the exercise is relevant to local contexts, this project will draw on a vast network of civil society organizations across the Amazon, both for formulating the criteria used for the evaluation and their application to each national and sub-national context.

By implementing these gap reports, we aim to develop these ‘scorecards’ with their application methodologies by this year’s COP30, a globally significant conservation event that can act as a space to present the results and deliver the scores to  identified leaders in the region, as well as national and sub-national governments. Amazon Conservation will host a regional workshop with civil society partners at the subnational level in the States of the Brazilian Amazon, along with those in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia to develop common criteria for assessing the action of governments in terms of: 

• Setting of targets related to the Amazon, such as reducing deforestation, emissions from forests, other impacts e.g., mercury pollution, in addition to forest restoration and investments in building forest-based economies
• Policies taken to implement these targets, such as land-use designation and infrastructure planning, and fiscal incentives (both negative and positive)
• Effectiveness of interventions against illegal deforestation and other environmental crimes, assessed through indicators of forest and forest carbon loss, and responsiveness of enforcement authorities to notifications of illegal deforestation cases
• Efforts to secure international funding by assessing preparedness for different types of financing 

As we move forward, we anticipate our participation at this year’s COP30 to communicate on the results and call attention to remaining policy gaps, helping ensure long-term conservation in the Amazon and convening all partners contributing to the reports, as well as amplifying indigenous representations. 

A special thank you to our partners who are helping us with this initiative: 

• Instituto Centro de Vida – ICV (Brazil)
• Science Panel for the Amazon 
• Conservación Amazónica – ACCA (Peru) 
• Conservación Amazónica – ACEAA (Bolivia) 
• Fundación para la Conservación y el Desarrollo Colombia – FCDS (Colombia) 
• Fundación EcoCiencia (Ecuador)
• SOS Amazônia (Acre)
• Ecoporé (Rondônia)
• Fepipa (Pará)
• ObservaMT (Mato Grosso)
• Observatório da 163 – Idesam (Amazonas) 

Graphic by apiboficial.org

Earlier this month, our Director of Strategy and Policy Blaise Bodin attended Brazil’s 2025 Acampamento Terra Livre (ATL), an annual mobilization of Indigenous leaders, representatives, and allies advocating for Indigenous peoples’ land demarcation and sovereignty. This year marked the 20th anniversary of the organizers of the event, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), who established this year’s theme “We Are All APIB: In Defense of the Constitution and Life,” which calls attention to the struggles of maintaining Indigenous people’s constitutional rights to their territories, essential for environmental conservation and justice in Brazil. With over 7,000 attendees, this year’s ATL hosted several panels, plenaries, and marches over a 4-day period on the lawn in front of Brazil’s national congress building in Brasília, in a symbolic gesture to highlight the need for stronger Indigenous representation in legislature. 

Indigenous leaders speaking at the round table session

At the event, Blaise was invited by our Brazilian partners at Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), who in turn, had been invited participate in a round table session hosted by the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), in which numerous Indigenous leaders of the Yanomami, Munduruku and Kayapó Indigenous groups expressed concerns for ongoing mining invasions and mercury contamination in their territories, which have drastically affected the health and safety of these communities. Although efforts by the government to remove miners from their territories have shown success, activities still persist, and Indigenous communities in Brazil continue to face challenges in effectively monitoring their territories to enforce the law. 

In light of the continued efforts by the government and civil society organizations to mitigate mining activities, geographer Estevão Benfica Senra from Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) highlighted that remote-sensing data shared with these communities resulted in a significant reduction of various illegal activities across the entire Amazon, reinforcing joint action needed for this among Indigenous leaders, civil society organizations, and monitoring authorities.  Estevão also highlighted the use of data from Amazon Mining Watch (AMW), a digital platform that uses machine learning to report mining activities across the Amazon, which we helped create in 2022 via partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network and Earth Genome. Amazon Conservation is currently working alongside Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) to strengthen Indigenous communities’ efforts in developing an early warning system for mining activities in their territories using information from the Amazon Mining Watch.

In response to seeing this information shared at such a prominent event, Blaise shares, “it was impressive to see [Estevão] amongst a panel of distinguished indigenous leaders. We hope that this data can help in the conversation between the indigenous peoples and the federal government agencies in charge of enforcement.” Blaise also mentioned how Indigenous groups are historically very distrustful of information generated by the government, and hopes that the Amazon Mining Watch can be a key tool for these groups “by providing independent figures that paint an objective view of the reality at the scale of the entire Amazon: one of undeniable progress that will require continued efforts to root out both destruction on the ground and the extensive criminal networks that drive [gold mining deforestation].” 

Banner reads “The future has a name! The answer is us.”

This year’s ATL 2025 was successful in sparking dialogue among Indigenous leaders that proposed joint strategies in collaboration with government agencies and ministries to effectively monitor their territories and develop stronger, more sustainable solutions for the long term. Following a conversation with Estevão from ISA, Blaise expressed interest in representing Amazon Conservation at next year’s Acampamento Terra Livre (ATL). He details how Amazon Conservation can work through our partnership with ISA, stating that “for next year, we will prepare ahead of the ATL and, through ISA, consolidate our presence at any panels or roundtables on illegal gold mining to present the Amazon Mining Watch platform in more detail and explain its functionalities and relevance for indigenous leaders in their relationship with enforcement authorities.”

Healthy, standing forests directly affect these communities’ food security, health, livelihoods, and overall long-term survival, which continues to be threatened by various harmful and often illegal activities such as gold mining and logging. Data from our Monitoring of the Andes Amazon Program (MAAP) has shown that Indigenous territories, which cover almost 20% of the entire Amazon basin, are proven to be effective against unlawful and unchecked deforestation, reducing the primary forest loss rate by 3x compared to areas outside of these designations. Given these results, supporting Indigenous rights and autonomy is a centerpiece of our strategy to empower people. 

To amplify our work, Amazon Conservation will be taking a much more active role in major global conservation forums to bolster the way we influence policy that affects the lives of Indigenous people. It is vital that Indigenous groups continue to be represented among climate and conservation policy discussions to gain more visibility for their invaluable role in achieving national and international climate, biodiversity, and sustainable development goals.

In 2023, we published a MAAP report detailing the effectiveness of protected areas and Indigenous territories across the Amazon, which have shown a 3-fold reduction in deforestation rates compared to areas outside these land designations. While the establishment of these areas proves to be effective, some regions continue to remain vulnerable to illegal deforestation activities. 

Graph 1. Deforestation in the Colombian Amazon, 2013-2024.

For the past decade, roughly 60% of deforestation in Colombia has occurred in its Amazonian regions. To help address this growing issue, we established a partnership with the Colombian organization, the Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development (Fundación para la Conservación y el Desarrollo Sostenible – FCDS), in 2023 to provide MAAP’s real-time deforestation tracking capabilities, enabling swift action against illegal deforestation. 

Our newest report, MAAP #224, was created in collaboration with FCDS, following an announcement by the Colombian Ministry of the Environment that detailed the increase in forest clearing rates in 2024, after the country experienced its lowest deforestation in over 20 years. Nearly 1.2 million hectares (approximately 296,500 acres) of the Colombian Amazon have already been deforested (much of it likely illegal) within the past 10 years, occurring in protected areas and Indigenous territories. 

Base Map: Focal area of the report.

MAAP #224 highlights recent deforestation taking place from late 2024 to early 2025 in two key areas of the Colombian Amazon: Chiribiquete National Park (Parque Nacional Natural Serranía de Chiribiquete) and the adjacent Llanos del Yarí–Yaguará II Indigenous Reserve (Resguardo Indígena Llanos del Yarí–Yaguará II).  The expansion of road infrastructure, extensive livestock farming, pasture expansion, land grabbing, and illicit crops (coca), have been a identified as the main divers of deforestation in these areas, leading to the loss of over 7,100 hectares (about 17,500 acres) in Chiribiquete National Park alone since its most recent expansion in 2018. 

Within the 2024-2024 time period, 525 hectares (about 1,297 acres) of deforestation were estimated in Chiribiquete National Park and an additional 856 (about 2,115 acres) hectares in Llanos del Yarí–Yaguará II Indigenous Reserve.

This report illustrates these key cases of deforestation in both areas through a series of high-resolution satellite imagery and overflight photos to provide greater insight and analysis into the cause of this recent deforestation. 

Read the full report here.