Note from the Field: Real-Time Monitoring in Madre de Dios, Peru

December 19, 2025

Dear Friend of the Amazon,

My name is Nadia Mamani, and I come from the Madre de Dios region of Peru, a place of stunning beauty and deep cultural roots, but also one of the most threatened by illegal gold mining and deforestation.

Me (middle) after presenting at an experiences exchange with Indigenous leaders from Peru and Ecuador.

These activities have destroyed forests, poisoned rivers, and displaced local communities. Using GIS and remote sensing tools in my research opened my eyes to the true scale of the damage: vast stretches of forest lost, often in places unreachable on foot. But those same tools also gave me a powerful new way to take action.

Today, through Amazon Conservation’s Monitoring of the Andes Amazon Program (MAAP), I track illegal mining and deforestation from afar in real time. But what happens on the ground matters just as much. I regularly visit the region to work with local partners, Indigenous leaders, and community representatives, building trust, leading workshops, and training them to use satellite data to monitor and defend their territories. Together, we identify threats, assess ecosystems, and design strategies to protect the forest and prevent more loss.

For me, this work is deeply personal. Every training I lead, every analysis and report I create, and every new thing I learn from each of our local partners, is a way of giving back to my community and to the Indigenous leaders safeguarding the forest.

Your support makes this possible.

Together, we’re strengthening Indigenous partnerships and empowering local leaders to protect the Amazon for generations to come.

With heartfelt thanks,

Nadia Mamani
Senior Geospatial Analyst and Partner Strategy Lead
Amazon Conservation