©Xapiri/Tui Anandi/Mike van Krutchen/Acaté About Us: Acaté Amazon Conservation
Acaté is a non-profit conservation organization based in the United States and Perú that is an extraordinary partnership of the partnership of the Matsés indigenous people and dedicated conservationists with decades of experience. The Matsés live in the Amazon Rainforest along remote tributaries of the Javari river in the frontier divide of northeastern Perú and Brazil. The Matsés safeguard a vast and biodiverse corridor of intact primary rainforest as well as shield some of the last remaining uncontacted tribal groups in isolation from unwanted encroachment from the outside world.
All of Acaté’s projects are developed in a close partnership with, led, and implemented by the Matsés indigenous people. We operate through implementing strategic programs and real-on-the-ground initiatives that help them protect their chosen way of life, traditions, their ancestral lands, and ecology. The on-the-ground conservation initiatives are capacity-building and designed to support their self-sufficiency and independence. Acaté operates with unparalleled integrity and transparency in its operations, partnerships, and reporting.
Leading on the frontlines of conservation for over a decade, Acaté’s initiatives have included the first indigenous medicine encyclopedia that received wide international acclaim as well as projects with original methodology in sustainable economic development, traditional medicine, medicinal agroforestry, nutritional diversity, regenerative agriculture, biodiversity inventory, education, participatory mapping, native language literacy, governance, integrated aquaculture systems, and protection of uncontacted tribal groups in isolation.
In 2019, the Matsés and Acaté completed a five-year undertaking to map and demarcate, for the first time, their ancestral territories comprising 3.7 million acres of rainforest. The resultant maps, written in their language, are comprehensive cartographic records of their territory, history, land use, and culture. Recently, Acaté and Matsés leadership coordinated the relief effort for the Matsés during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Acaté was co-founded by physician Christopher Herndon and sustainable agriculturalist William Park. Acaté is a confederation of Acaté Amazon Conservation, a U.S. based 501c3 non-profit incorporated in 2012, and Acate Amazon Conservacion incorporated in Peru in 2014. Our team has decades of experience in on-the-ground conservation initiatives in Peru and other countries across the Amazon. For many years, Acaté field coordinator, Dr. David Fleck, lived in one of the most remote Matsés villages and is an integrated member of the Matsés community. Dr. Fleck has written over 30 scientific publications on the Matsés culture, language, and ethnobiology.
Acaté is headquartered in the Amazon gateway city of Iquitos, working with the Matsés that come into the city, thereby providing a much-needed link for their communities to the outside world. Acaté works in daily communication with Matsés leadership and our teams in the United States and Peru closely coordinate on how to best support the Matsés and realize their initiatives.
The development and implementation of each field initiative is closely guided by the Matsés leadership and communities. Please see our team and governance structure for how we operate. Our field reports provide a level of transparency and accounting that is unparalleled in conservation.
Acaté has formal partnerships with the elected Matsés leadership, Peruvian Ministry of Culture, the Loreto Regional Government Office (GOREL) of Indigenous Assistance (Asuntos Indigenas), the Peruvian Ministry of Health (MINSA), and Peruvian National Park Service the administration of the Matsés National Reserve.
We are a member of the United Nations Global Compact and a service provider through the United Nations Environmental Programme.
Acaté’s work has been profiled in numerous media outlets and publications including Mongabay, The Guardian, CNN International, and CNN Espanol, and CNN Espanol series Ancestral Guardians.
You can subscribe to Acaté for the latest updates on our on-the-ground conservation initiatives in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest. See us on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter-X, Bluesky, Mastodon, and Flickr.
2023 is the ten-year anniversary of the launch of Acaté. In recognition of this milestone, we reflect on our work over the past decade and present our vision for the future of the organization. Read more here in this retrospective
