After a long process, we’ve helped secure an environmental license authorizing the operation of a pilot açaí processing plant in the Villa Florida community of the Manuripi National Reserve in Bolivia – making the community one of the first in Bolivia. Securing this license is a significant achievement because it engages authorities to support efforts […]
Ruthmery Pillco, who leads field activities for the Community-Based Reforestation to Protect Andean bears project, was recently announced as one of fifteen changemakers worldwide to be selected for National Geographic’s Emerging Explorers award. She joins a global community of National Geographic Explorers that include a diverse array of scientists, educators, storytellers, and conservationists. Ruthmery is […]
Last year (2020), we demonstrated the power of our real-time Amazon fire monitoring app (see MAAP #118 and MAAP #129). In a novel approach, the app uniquely combines data from the atmosphere (aerosol emissions in smoke) and the ground (heat anomaly alerts) to quickly and precisely detect major Amazon fires.* Using the app, we just detected the first two major fires in the Brazilian […]
Nine new beetle species and two new genera were recently discovered at our biological stations in the Peruvian Amazon by British researcher Dr. Michael Darby, noted in his recent publication “New genera and species of Ptiliini (Coleoptera: Ptiliidae) with a tribal revision and key to genera.” Two of those species he named in honor of […]
In 2019, the Peruvian government launched Operation Mercury to confront the illegal gold mining crisis in the southern Amazonian area known as La Pampa (Madre de Dios region).As a result, deforestation decreased 90% in this critical area (MAAP# 130). Some illegal gold mining, however, has moved to several new hotspots (Image 1), although at much lower levels. The […]
A group of three key conservation actors in Peru recently signed the Manu Conservation Agreement, which looks to promote exports, fair trade, and conservation of Amazonian forests in the vast Manu Biosphere Reserve in southeastern Peru. Through the sustainable commercialization of forest products that can only exist in healthy forests, this agreement works to build […]
Overgrazing and burning has significantly reduced high-elevation forests throughout the Peruvian Andes, posing a threat to the endemic species that call these cloud forests home, such as the Andean bear. This bear, also called Spectacled bear, is Latin America’s only native bear species and plays a critical role in the health of the Amazon by […]
Brazil is currently in high-profile negotiations with countries such as the United States and Norway for international compensation in exchange for improved action to address Amazon deforestation.* While this may be a positive development diplomatically, on the ground extensive deforestation continues. We recently reported that, in 2020, Brazil had the sixth-highest primary forest loss on record (1.5 million […]
Since last year, we have been busy making improvements for researchers and ecotourists at our Manu Biological Station (previously called Villa Carmen) in the Peruvian Amazon. In addition to vegetable garden and trail recovery, since November 2020 we’ve been in the process of locating areas for construction and adaptation of ponds for Piaractus brachypomus fish […]
Our real-time satellite monitoring efforts recently discovered that deforestation across the nine countries of the Amazon reached an all-time high in 2020. Over 5.6 million acres of irreplaceable forests were lost, an increase of 17% over 2019. The effects of this rampant deforestation are many: loss of habitat and potential extinction of wildlife species, increased […]
Loading...
1012 14th Street NW · Suite 625 · Washington DC 20005 · USA
202-234-2356 / info@amazonconservation.org
