Photo by International Potato Center CIP

The Ccollasuyo Agrobiodiversity Zone supports indigenous communities in the Cusco region, and focuses on rescuing ancient agricultural practices capable of growing a wide variety of native crops sustainably. One of the first of its kind in the country, this area conserves over 35,000 acres of forest and the unique species that inhabit it.

Located in the Peruvian province of Quispicanchi, this area is home to a hundred indigenous Quechua families who cultivate more than 100 varieties of native potatoes, 12 types of native corn, and unique root vegetables such as oca, mashua, olluco, quinoa, kiwicha and tarwi. For generations, the families of Ccollasuyo have continued to apply their ancient practices to grow these plants that are important markers of the world’s agricultural genetic diversity.

Complementing the conservation of this region, we also helped a neighboring Quechua community, Marcapata Ccollana, establish a conservation area protecting an additional 50,000 acres. Combined, these agrobiodiversity zones and conservation areas help mitigate the effects of climate change in a unique way by promoting and preserving ancestral forest-friendly and climate-resilient farming practices.

Washington, DC, July 27, 2021. A new analysis by Amazon Conservation’s Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) shows that protected areas and indigenous territories offer the best defense against deforestation for the Amazon Rainforest.

Through Amazon Conservation’s latest Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) analysis, the organization studied how land use designations in the four countries of the western Amazon – Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru – impacted primary forest loss in 2020. 

The primary finding solidifies the importance of protected areas and indigenous territories as key mechanisms to fight deforestation.

“The results speak for themselves,” says lead author Dr. Matt Finer, Director of Amazon Conservation’s MAAP. “They strongly show that protected areas had the lowest recent deforestation across the western Amazon, closely followed by indigenous territories. Protected areas in Ecuador and Peru and indigenous territories in Colombia were especially effective.” 

The results showed that, across an area of 229 million hectares (568 million acres), lands designated as protected areas, covering 43 million hectares, had the lowest rates of primary forest loss, followed closely by those designated as indigenous territories, covering 58 million hectares. 2020, a year marked by the COVID-19 global pandemic, presented a peak in forest loss in the Amazon as well as a flip in this overall pattern, with indigenous territories having less primary forest loss than protected areas. This increased forest loss in protected areas last year was primarily due to intense forest fires in Bolivia.

Areas with other land use designations had deforestation rates that were two times higher than in protected areas and indigenous territories.

“This data helps reinforce that protected areas and indigenous territories are doing their intended job in safeguarding these irreplaceable forests and the region’s ecological function and services,” says John Beavers, Executive Director at Amazon Conservation. “However, in addition to creating protected areas and helping indigenous peoples reinforce their territorial rights, greater investment is needed to protect them from increased deforestation threats and to build these areas’ resilience in the face of climate change. Strengthening ongoing management and their ability to adapt will provide the continued conservation needed to help the Amazon survive.”

To see the full study, visit MAAProject.org.

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About the Amazon Conservation Association 

Amazon Conservation is a pioneering Alliance of local conservation organizations — Conservación Amazónica-ACEAA in Bolivia, Conservación Amazónica-ACCA in Peru, and Amazon Conservation in the United States  — working towards a thriving Amazon. The organization’s holistic approach focuses on protecting wild places, empowering people, and putting science and technology to work for conservation. Visit amazonconservation.org for more information.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of our Los Amigos Conservation Concession. When Los Amigos was established in 2001, it was the first private conservation concession in the world. Located in the Los Amigos watershed in the department of Madre de Dios in southwestern Peru, the 360,000-acre concession borders the world-famous Manu National Park, and is a mosaic of terrestrial and aquatic habitats, including old-growth Amazonian forest, palm swamps, and bamboo thickets. Wildlife is abundant, including 12 globally threatened species, 11 primate species, and over 550 bird species.

Since its establishment, scientists and researchers have conducted studies at the station addressing botany, conservation biology, geology, hydrology, and zoology, among others. Additionally, many field courses have been held at the station with students from Peru and around the world.

See what they have to say about Los Amigos:

Our Los Amigos Biological Station, located in the Peruvian Amazon, has inaugurated a new conservation technology lab that will conduct advanced wildlife tracking, conservation genomics, safe pathogen screening, and toxicology monitoring of key species in the Amazon. This targeted biodiversity monitoring will enable us to gather key information on zoonotic diseases and transmission risks, helping support government health agencies and protecting local people – and, in our globalized world, people everywhere – from diseases that cross the human-wildlife interface. 

By safely taking DNA samples of wildlife and domestic animals in the region – without harming or killing any animals and following strict security protocols – scientists at the Wildlife Conservation Laboratory will monitor the health and disease status of a range of species, including frogs, snakes, and monkeys. To achieve this, some of the scientific activities carried out at the Laboratory will include sample biobanking, expanding barcode of life reference libraries for the Amazon rainforest, field testing pathogens and environmental contaminants, and developing sequencing solutions for population monitoring of key species. 

The Laboratory will also create a conservation technology “makerspace,” that is, a space for inventing new technologies, innovating current ones to be used for conservation, and piloting novel models. For instance, the first custom device researchers will work on will be a wildlife GPS tracking device much more lightweight, low-cost, and long-lasting than the ones currently in existence. The device will take advantage of a new long-range forest mesh network and have wildlife microchip reading stations, enabling scientists to track down wildlife movement in a similar way that toll roads track cars through the EZ-Pass system. 

With the addition of this Laboratory, we are creating a community-based model for monitoring biodiversity and wildlife health that can be replicated on a global scale, by using the novel approach of the In Situ Lab (ISL) initiative. “What is great about In-Situ Labs like this is that it’s not a top-down effort,” highlights Dr. Mrinalini Erkenswick Watsa, lead scientist in the project, “The lab will engage with and be adopted by local partners thanks to the affordability and ease-of-use of the technology and methodology being developed in the field.”

Another innovative aspect of the Laboratory is that all methods on how to acquire data and conduct analysis data created at the lab will be openly shared on protocols.io and Github for other scientists to use. The data produced at the lab will also be freely shared in other public online repositories, such as the public data servers BOLD and NCBI, all coordinated through the In Situ Labs project website. 

This initiative, launched in October 2020, is a collaboration between several academic and nonprofit organizations, including Amazon Conservation, Conservación Amazónica – ACCA, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Field Projects International, Washington University in Saint Louis, and the LOEWE-Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics at the Senckenberg Museum. This project is made possible thanks to the generous financial support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and to Amazon Conservation Association. 

With the finalization of the Laboratory’s construction, these partner organizations will now launch pilot projects to develop protocols and methodologies. The initiative aims to create a model for a decentralized, community-based One Health laboratory network within two years. 

For more information about the Wildlife Conservation Laboratory or if you’re interested in visiting our Los Amigos Biological Station, please contact info@amazonconservation.org

The Madre de Dios region of Peru has long been home to a variety of cultural and ethnic groups for nearly three thousand years. The Indigenous Federation of Madre de Dios (FENAMAD in Spanish) is a regional organization that represents 37 indigenous communities belonging to seven linguistic groups. With the support of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), we will bolster FENAMAD’s territorial monitoring efforts within five key indigenous communities, and strengthen our efforts connecting real-time deforestation monitoring and reporting with policy action. With our partner EcoCiencia, we will expand our program to Ecuador and aid monitoring efforts of the Waorani indigenous community, who have experienced an influx of illegal loggers and gold miners following road construction in pursuit of oil within their territory. 

Through our partnership with these indigenous communities, we will provide real-time satellite monitoring of their territories while building their capacity to use this high-tech monitoring in the future. This project marks the first time we are able to share our satellite information with indigenous communities directly, in order to strengthen their existing surveillance systems, inform their on-the-ground patrolling, and help take action to stop illegal deforestation and degradation in their ancestral homelands. 

Not only will this project establish systematic monitoring focused on protected areas and indigenous territories, it will also deliver high-quality, actionable, real-time analysis to governments, centering our approach on providing both national and local support against deforestation. Nationally, we will help governments better utilize and act on real-time monitoring information, and locally, we will strengthen the abilities of key indigenous organizations in Peru – like FENAMAD – to detect and respond to threats in their territories by utilizing technology and engaging with the government.

Norad has been a long-standing partner of Amazon Conservation, supporting four of our forest monitoring projects over the past ten years. This new project will build upon the results we have accomplished with Norad so far in Peru and begin to extend our model to combat environmental crimes using technology and forest governance in Ecuador through local partnerships. 

These past few weeks significant scientific advances have been made at our Los Amigos Biological Station by the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP).

The research group, led by professors Dr. Eric Cosio and Dr. Norma Salinas from the Department of Science and the Institute for Nature, Earth and Energy at INTE-PUCP, has installed an atmospheric flux system in our Los Amigos observation tower at a height of 196-foot (60 meter) above the ground to measure carbon, methane, and water vapor in the air. They are studying greenhouse gas fluxes to understand whether forests act as sinks or sources of these gases, and also show how they differ in different ecosystems (primary forest, secondary forest, wetlands and Andean highlands). They have multiple towers with these systems in various districts of Peru for comparison purposes.

Biometric data – that is, statistical analysis of ecological information – was taken from a forest area close to the tower to classify the forest next to the flux devices, and to estimate how much carbon is currently present in the standing forest. 

This research and our collaboration with PUCP is a key example of how we put science and technology to work for conservation, helping to discover how climate change is affecting the Amazon Rainforest. The PUCP team will return to Los Amigos in August to recalibrate equipment, and then every three months afterwards to obtain data. They are looking to enhance the system with more gas flux devices over time, such as adding an atmospheric mercury meter. The gas flux data will be uploaded to a global platform for flux data, connecting our Los Amigos Biological Station to the rest of the world. Additionally, a weather station was placed on top of the Los Amigos tower, which provides very precise, digital, meteorological data. 

Special thanks to the Andes Amazon Fund and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, for the support that made possible the purchase and installation of 8 solar panels that are powering the flux devices. 

Want to help make science possible?

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 advancing these forest-friendly economic activities. 

Açaí is a strategic fruit within the framework of regional economic recovery, generating at least 100 immediate jobs for the local community as well as indirectly benefiting families through the revitalization of the local economy. Communities like Villa Florida collect açaí berries and Brazil nuts as a source of food and income. Both of these products can only grow in healthy, standing forests, thus supporting their sustainable harvest encourages conservation of these important ecosystems. Differently from Brazil nuts, açaí requires a transformation process to be done quickly in order to obtain the berries’ pulp, making a processing plant a vital necessity for communities who want to diversify their income and increase the value of their forest goods. 

Our on-the-ground sister organization in Bolivia, Conservación Amazónica-ACEAA, along with WWF-Bolivia, provided technical and financial support to the Villa Florida people  as well as the National Protected Areas Service of Bolivia (SERNAP) to obtain this license. 

“The future of açaí is promising; it is time to cement processes and strengthen policies that support its development and growth…improving living conditions, contributing to regional development, promoting local economies and inclusive conservation,” said Samuel Sangüeza Pardo, Country Representative for WWF-Bolivia.

The location of the pilot processing plant will be within the Manuripi-Heath Amazonian Wildlife National Reserve, a protected conservation area in Pando, Bolivia, that spans 1.8 million acres (​​747,000 ha). This biodiversity hotspot is home to 528 species of plants, 501 species of birds, 150 species of mammals, and 112 species of fish. Manuripi is already a major producer of Brazil nuts, exporting approximately 10,000 tons annually.

Photo via PANDO Vision (click to view the Facebook Live of the ceremony)

We were able to build on this existing sustainable infrastructure and help the community advance açaí as a second flagship product that they can export in order to build their economic power and diversify their income sources. 

Manuripi was established with two main objectives in mind: The first was to conserve the important forests of the Amazon in Northern Bolivia, while the second was to promote the sustainable use of wild resources through forest management that guarantees long-term productivity, improves the living conditions of the local population, and contributes to the development of the region. By helping establish this pilot processing plant, we once again reinforce the biodiversity and economic benefits of conserving forests that can provide renewable products, over other destructive activities such as logging or clearing land for cattle ranching.

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 an Indigenous Peruvian biologist from a village outside of Cusco, and is a trilingual speaker of Spanish, English and Quechua. She recently received her Master’s degree in plant and fungi taxonomy, conservation, and biodiversity from Queen Mary University of London and Kew Gardens, and has also been featured as one of our Incredible Women in Science. 

Aside from leading the Andean bear conservation project, she has led rare and threatened tree conservation projects on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica, making inventories of flora, collecting seeds, and germinating threatened trees to later be used in restoration projects. 

National Geographic’s Emerging Explorers are selected annually from a global pool of candidates, and come from a variety of fields ranging from anthropology and earth sciences to technology and filmmaking. Aside from Ruthmery’s species conservation work, the projects from this year’s Emerging Explorers’ include ocean exploration, inventing space technologies, and understanding the past through archaeology and anthropology, among others.

“Our emerging explorers are inspiring young visionaries who are looking at ways to remedy global problems and are undertaking innovative research and exploration,” said Terry Garcia, National Geographic’s chief science and exploration officer at the time, in a past interview about the program. “They will help lead a new age of discovery.”

See the National Geographic announcement here.

2021 Brazilian Amazon Fire #2. Mato Grosso. Data: MAAP, Planet.

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 Amazon for 2021.

These fires occurred on May 19 and 20, respectively, both on the southern edge of the Amazon in the state of Mato Grosso. For comparison, last year’s intense fire season started on May 28.

(Editor’s note: Since the initial publishing of this article, we have identified four additional major fires. This brings the total number of major fires in the Amazon to six; these six major fires are all burning in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. Please follow @MattFiner and @ACA_DC on Twitter to stay up-to-date on the latest Amazon fires updates).

We confirmed the fires using high-resolution imagery from the satellite company Planet.

Importantly, the imagery also revealed that these fires burned recently deforested areas. That is, instead of being actual “forest fires,” these areas were actually first deforested in 2020 and then burned in 2021. See MAAP #113 for background on this important point.

Below, we show a striking series of satellite imagery videos showing the first two fires, which highlights critical process of Amazon deforestation followed by Amazon fires.

2021 Brazilian Amazon Fire #1

We detected the first major fire of the year in the Brazilian Amazon on May 19, on the southern edge of the Amazon in the state of Mato Grosso. As the satellite video shows, this area was first cleared in 2020 and then later burned in 2021.

2021 Brazilian Amazon Fire #1. Mato Grosso. Data: MAAP, Planet.

2021 Brazilian Amazon Fire #2

We detected the second major fire of the year in the Brazilian Amazon the following day, on May 20, also on the southern edge of the Amazon in the state of Mato Grosso. As the satellite video shows, this area was also first cleared in 2020 and then later burned in 2021.

2021 Brazilian Amazon Fire #2. Mato Grosso. Data: MAAP, Planet.

*App Background

We launched a new and improved version of the Amazon real-time fire monitoring app in May 2021. The app is hosted by Google Earth Engine and updated every day by the organization Conservación Amazónica, based in Peru.

The app displays aerosol emissions as detected by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5 satellite. Elevated aerosol levels indicate the burning of large amounts of biomass, defined here as a “major fire”. In a novel approach, the app combines data from the atmosphere (aerosol emissions in smoke) and the ground (heat anomaly alerts) to effectively detect and visualize major Amazon fires.

When fires burn, they emit gases and aerosols. A new satellite (Sentinel-5P from the European Space Agency) detects these aerosol emissions (aerosol definition: Suspension of fine solid particles or liquid droplets in air or another gas). Thus, the major feature of the app is detecting elevated aerosol emissions which in turn indicate the burning of large amounts of biomass. For example, the app distinguishes small fires clearing old fields (and burning little biomass) from larger fires burning recently deforested areas or standing forest (and burning lots of biomass). The spatial resolution of the aerosol data is 7.5 sq km. The high values in the aerosol indices (AI) may also be due to other reasons such as emissions of volcanic ash or desert dust so it is important to cross reference elevated emissions with heat data and optical imagery.

We define “major fire” as one showing elevated aerosol emission levels on the app, thus indicating the burning of elevated levels of biomass. This typically translates to an aerosol index of >1 (or cyan-green to red on the app). To identify the exact source of the elevated emissions, we reduce the intensity of aerosol data in order to see the underlying terrestrial heat-based fire alerts. Typically for major fires, there is a large cluster of alerts. The major fires are then confirmed, and burn areas estimated, using high-resolution satellite imagery from Planet Explorer.

Since the data updates daily and is not impacted by clouds, real-time monitoring really is possible. Our goal is to upload each day’s new image in the late afternoon/early evening.

Acknowledgements

The app was developed and updated daily by Conservación Amazónica (ACCA). The data analysis is led by Amazon Conservation in collaboration with SERVIR Amazonia.

This work was mainly supported by NORAD (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation) and ICFC (International Conservation Fund of Canada).

Citation

Finer M, Villa L (2021) Amazon Fire Tracker 2021: Brazilian Amazon Fire Season Begins. MAAP.

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