ACT UPDATE   June 24, 2005

Dear Friends,

Cultural Preservation

Much of ACT's focus entails partnering with indigenous and other tribal peoples to facilitate and enhance their stewardship of their traditional lands. In the short term, conservation cannot always generate more income than exploitative economic development. But this type of high-impact development, in addition to generating negative impacts like pollution, almost always disrupts or destroys tribal culture.

Although explaining it can be difficult, there is a way to understand the concept of "culture." All human beings have similar needs: food, clothing, shelter, affection, social organization, play, sexuality, a sense of importance or value. A major difference between cultures is the way they satisfy these needs. For example, when people are thirsty, some drink water, others Sprite or Coke, others drink beer, or chicha. Some satisfy the need for clothing by wearing a loincloth, some wear jeans, some wear tunics, and some wear miniskirts...

A "healthy" culture is a culture that satisfies its needs in a harmonious manner. Respecting the natural environment and utilizing the resources of the ecosystem where they reside, achieving a peaceful coexistence, keeping a shared sense of values and passing on their values and customs to the next generations is the way in which traditional forest cultures have tended to survive and thrive. The problem with acculturation of indigenous communities is that the West sometimes offers them new forms of satisfying their needs that are not particularly beneficial-they damage the environment, affect their health, end the traditions of native people, and lead to violence, homelessness, and poverty.

Hard to quantify culture? Yes. But perhaps its clearest expression is seen when a culture is dying. When remote indigenous groups experience intensive contact with the West and lose their language and other traditions, vibrant people become landless peasants, or impoverished city dwellers. Their lands often follow suit--ravaged by mining activity or clearcut for farming and/or timber.

ACT knows that it cannot "save" the entire Amazon all by itself, but we strive to maintain an intercultural dialogue with our partner groups to jointly work toward safeguarding the knowledge, traditions and the pristine and important territories on which their sustenance and livelihood depend.

Part of the conversation with our indigenous colleagues entails establishing innovative partnerships to share successful stories while also learning from past mistakes. In many cases, ACT collaborates with not only with local peoples in Amazonia, but others from the US and Canada as well whose vast experience serve as reference for and steps toward protection both of quantifiable acres of land and of the elusive cultures of the rainforest.

To support ACT's innovative work in Biocultural Conservation, visit us at www.amazonteam.org/donate, or send a check to Amazon Conservation Team, 4211 N. Fairfax Dr., Arlington, Virginia 22203. The work can't get done without your help.