The Amazon Conservation Association (ACA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the variety of life in the Amazon basin. It works to improve scientific knowledge, manage natural resources in ways that support both people and nature, and create fair policies for using land.
The ACA was started in 1999 by scientists Adrian Forsyth and Enrique Ortiz. It partners closely with the Peruvian nonprofit Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazónica (ACCA), which is based in Cuzco, and with ACA-Bolivia, located in La Paz. Together, ACA and its partner groups conduct scientific studies and work with governments, local communities, and other conservation groups to increase the amount of land protected in the region.
A main goal of the ACA is to create research sites that range from high-elevation cloud forests to lowland Amazonian forests. This range of elevations is home to the greatest known number of species on Earth. At these research sites, university students and scientists come to study and learn about this rich and diverse ecosystem.
Programs
The Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) uses satellite images of deforestation in the Andean Amazon to find possible reasons for forest loss. They use data from NASA and other sources, along with detailed images from Planet and DigitalGlobe, to study what causes forests to disappear. These studies are published regularly and show many reasons for deforestation, such as building dams, wildfires, raising cattle, mining for gold, growing oil palms, extracting oil, and farming. Results are studied to find patterns in deforestation. Reports from MAAP have helped improve rules and protect the Amazon.
ACA works with castanheiros (people who harvest Brazil nuts) in the southwestern Amazon to help local and indigenous communities earn income while protecting forests. Areas with Brazil nut trees, called castanhais, range in size from hundreds to thousands of acres and are given to families for harvesting. This activity provides more than half of the yearly income for many families in these areas and has helped protect these lands for harvesting. ACA helps castanheiros by teaching them to map their trees, improve paths for collecting nuts, and use better methods to gather nuts more efficiently.
Through its partner in Peru, La Asociación para la Conservación de la Cuenca Amazonica (ACCA), ACA has helped increase the number of Brazil nut producers in Madre de Dios, Peru, who have official plans and agreements to harvest nuts. In 2006, ACCA helped 93 small producers get government approval to harvest nuts in 80,598 acres (326 square kilometers) of forest. The group helped these producers map their trees, create forest management plans, and win 40-year agreements with Peru’s National Institute for Natural Resources (INRENA). These producers also received training on how to manage forests in a way that protects the environment.
In 2000, ACA and its partner ACCA created the world’s first private conservation concession called Los Amigos, which means “Friends” in Spanish. This area is near the mouth of the Los Amigos River and covers about 360,000 acres (1,500 square kilometers) of old-growth Amazonian forest in Madre de Dios, Peru. Here, the organization focuses on managing forests sustainably, conducting research, teaching conservation in local schools, and training communities to manage natural resources. The Los Amigos Biological Station, known as CICRA, is located on a high area where the Madre de Dios and Los Amigos rivers meet and is next to the conservation area.
Between 2005 and 2007, CICRA was the most active research station in the Amazon, with about 25 researchers and assistants working there each day. During this time, it hosted 145 research projects on topics like animal behavior, biogeochemistry, botany, conservation biology, geology, hydrology, zoology, and inventories of 25 different types of plants and animals, from tiny copepods to large marsupials. Most researchers come from universities in Peru or other countries and are supported by ACA and ACCA grants. CICRA also trains young scientists and conservationists in the Amazon. From 2002 to 2007, the station held 19 field courses on topics like Amazonian ecology, plant identification, bird study, and insect biology.
The Wayqecha Research Center, which means “friend” in Quechua, covers 1,450 acres (6 square kilometers) of cloud forest and acts as a buffer to protect Peru’s Manú National Park. Located at 3,000 meters above sea level, the Wayqecha Biological Station supports research on cloud forest ecosystems, climate change, and how species adapt. Since 2003, ACA has offered grants for Peruvian and international researchers studying cloud forests and their conservation.
ACA-Bolivia works to study the ecology of Madidi National Park and the last part of the pampas ecosystem, which is home to the maned wolf.