Interactive Games Show Consequences of Human Activity on Amazon’s Chemical Makeup

July 29, 2022

In the Bolivian department of Pando, Amazon Conservation through our sister organization Conservación Amazónica–ACEAA held workshops in the communities of Holanda, Empresiña, San Antonio, and Luz de América to spread awareness about the impacts of human activities on the Amazon rainforest. These workshops, part of the PRODIGY project financed by the German Ministry of Research and Education-BMBF, included interactive learning activities and games that informed participants from these local communities about the chemical makeup of the Amazon ecosystem and helped demonstrate how human activities can alter the ecosystem’s vulnerable chemistry.

One exercise explored how uncontrolled extractive activities such as illegal gold mining can leave behind harmful substances like mercury that enter and disrupt the natural chemistry of the Amazon as a result of agitating river sediment and destroying river banks. Through workshops like these, we aim to raise awareness among local people in the Amazon, especially young people and future community leaders, about the impacts of human activities on forest ecosystems. Through our Empowering People program, we also work on the ground in these and other communities throughout the region to support them in building forest-friendly and sustainable livelihoods as viable alternatives to activities that negatively impact the Amazon’s ecosystem. Learn more about how we Empower People across the region here.