It’s not easy reaching Matsés territory, but finally, after a week of saying goodbye to my family in Iquitos only to return a couple hours later with yet another cancelled flight, the Peruvian Air Force float plane took off and soared off into the horizon. I was headed for the small Peruvian military outpost of […] Continue reading »
Posts Categorized: Field Updates
December Field Update
Happy Holidays and a Wonderful New Year! The entire team here at Acaté wishes you a warm and joyous holiday season! As the year draws to a close, we reflect on the enormous strides we have achieved together in our conservation projects in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest. Together with our partners, the Matsés […] Continue reading »
Regaining Sustainable Agriculture Practices in the Amazon
Nothing is more challenging than advising experts. The Matsés indigenous people are master farmers, and it seems strange to even suggest farming ideas to people who live almost entirely off the land. The problem is that their traditional small-scale swidden (slash-and-burn) approaches to farming, once superbly adapted for a semi-nomadic lifestyle, do not translate to […] Continue reading »
Gold Mining: Turning the Amazon into a Wasteland
In three short years, our increased demand for gold due to economic fears, has destroyed over 50,000 hectares of Amazon rainforest. Gold Mining in Amazon Rainforest Increases Drastically The area of greatest impact from gold mining is in the Madre de Dios region of southeastern Perú. In addition to the legal gold mining approved by […] Continue reading »
Virgin Rainforest Deforested for Palm Oil in Tamishiyacu
Large-scale palm oil deforestation of virgin rainforest discovered in Tamshiyacu UPDATE: The company responsible for this deforestation is United Cacao. Read the full report here. In an investigative trip facilitated in part by Acaté’s in-country Director Bill Park, journalists in Peru’s Loreto region recently discovered a 14-square-kilometer area of pristine rainforest cut down for an […] Continue reading »