ACT UPDATE   June 8, 2006

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to present the latest version of our electronic newsletter. In addition to the many successful conservation initiatives, I am exceptionally pleased to point out that Charity Navigator, an independent charity evaluator, just gave ACT a four star rating - their highest grade! In order to share the good news and to expand the scope of our support, I would like to personally ask each and everyone of you to share this newsletter with four friends who might be interested in our work. ACT prides itself on not sending out junkmail or hiring telemarketers - however, we need your help to spread our conservation message. Thank you once again for your interest and support.

Dr. Mark Plotkin, Ph.D
President

• ACT receives highest rating from Charity Navigator!
• Gathering of traditional healers in the Amazon
• First transboundary meeting on environmental protection of the Suriname- Brazil border region
• Administrative capacity building for tribes of Brazilian indigenous reserves
• Documentary Film and Photography Production Training course
• Work to protect the Kamukuaká Cavern
• Suriname women’s traditional agriculture meeting and workshop
• Continuation of Trio traditional land mapping enhancement project, Suriname
• Suriname Land Management Meeting and Workshops

ACT receives four-star rating from Charity Navigator

The Amazon Conservation Team has received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent evaluator of charities. We are extremely proud of the fact that this independent organization found us to be so effective and cost-effective!

See ACT’s page here.

Gathering of traditional healers in the Amazon

In March, ACT convened a meeting of traditional healers from North and South America to discuss how best to protect culture and ecosystems. Participants included healers from Canada and the US; Colombia’s Putumayo and Caquetá provinces; southern Suriname; and Brazil’s Tumucumaque Mountains region and Xingu Indigenous Park. The gathering’s themes included the process of developing intra-regional, inter-regional, and international unions of traditional healers; the creation of healers’ apprentice programs; the establishment of facilities for practicing and promoting traditional medicine; collaborations with other healthcare providers and academic bodies; and complementary support to tribal associations.(Refer to Figure 1 and 2 in the gallery.)

First transboundary meeting on environmental protection of the Suriname-Brazil border region

On June 3-4, 2006, indigenous communities from south Suriname and northern Brazil (Trios/Tiriyós and Wayanas/Apalai) gathered in the Surinamese village of Kwamalasamutu to identify and discuss the common problems of protection in the border area. A few days later, on June 6-7, NGOs, government officials, and other indigenous community representatives convened in Paramaribo to establish trans-border strategies for identifying, communicating and formulating plans for environmental protection.

In addition to representatives from ACT’s tribal partners, the list of participating organizations included: the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Suriname (OIS); the Organization of American States; the French Embassy; the Surinamese Ministries of Spatial Planning, Land and Forest Management, Labor, Technological Development and Environment, Justice and Police, and Defense; the US Peace Corps; the National Institute for the Environment and Development in Suriname (NIMOS); the World Wildlife Fund; and Conservation International. Confirmed represented Brazilian institutions include Brazil’s Institute for Natural Resources and the Environment (IBAMA); the Brazilian Park Rangers (BPMA); the Secretaria Estadual do Meio Ambiente (SEMA); and the Federal University of Amapá. The Amazonian Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) was also be represented.

ACT provided the energy to realize this event by organizing all the necessary stakeholders, thereby creating a link between institutions and indigenous communities willing to protect the border area in order to present alternative strategies for its consequent protection and preservation.

The meetings represent a milestone for environmental protection in this region since it is the first time that indigenous, NGO, and government stakeholders from both Suriname and Brazil have met to address environmental concerns across their shared border. Environmental problems frequently involve multiple countries in both their cause and potential solution; however, transnational solutions can be difficult to realize because conflicting political interests often hamper collaboration. These meetings of this sort provide stepping stones toward the development of potentially innovative strategies for environmental protection and conservation by involving local, regional, and national actors. Of particular importance is the inclusion of indigenous community interests in these consultation processes, since historically these have been some of the communities most strongly affected by the causes and effects of environmental degradation resulting from development projects. The combined actions of indigenous groups and authorities can ensure improved protection in trans-border areas, as called for by the latest meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

Administrative capacity building for tribes of Brazilian indigenous reserves

In Brazil, in both the Tumucumaque and Xingu Indigenous Parks, ACT is assisting the tribal leaders in acquiring skills needed to optimally operate their associations, administer their resources, and generate environmental protection strategies. In January, in the Tumucumaque area, ACT provided computer use workshops to representatives of the regional tribal association APITIKATXI that included internet research, word processing, and spreadsheet software to manage the financial aspects of project management. In the Xingu, ACT conducted a course in official document preparation to increase the autonomy of the indigenous communities in drafting letters, memoranda, facsimiles and contracts, and to offer the indigenous reps a basis for interpreting, comprehending and responding to the often highly complex documents presented by other regional stakeholders. Future modules will include training in data processing. (Refer to Figure 3 in the gallery.)

Documentary Film and Photography Production Training Course, April 2006

In complement to the Project Proposal Elaboration Training Courses, in ACT’s field office in Canarana 10 indigenous representatives from the Waurá and other communities from Brazil’s Xingu Indigenous Park participated in ACT’s first capacity building course in documentary film and photography production. The training will be of great use in the tribes’ attempt to increase awareness of their cultural activities, to ensure the permanence of historical narratives, and to document destructive activities in risk areas. ACT’s consultant instructor for this course was Ricardo Neves, an anthropologist with wide experience with indigenous groups and winner of the 2004 Pierre Verger Prize for Outstanding Ethnographic Videography, awarded by the Brazilian Anthropological Association. (Refer to Figure 4 in the gallery.)

Work to protect the Kamukuaká Cavern

In January, ACT staff accompanied by a professional archaeologist and a historiographer conducted an archaeological and environmental assessment of the conditions of Brazil’s Kamukuaká Cavern to add to a proposal for the site’s protection. The cavern, which is located in the state of Mato Grosso just outside traditional Waurá tribal lands in the Xingu Indigenous Park, is considered sacred by all tribes of the Xingu. The site is vulnerable to a range of human threats, particularly trash accumulation and deforestation, because of its proximity to a local road. A technical report has been drafted based on the data collected during this expedition, which along with input provided during a prior expedition with Waurá representatives will inform a joint recovery plan for the debased area adjacent to the archeological site borders in concert with Brazil’s national cultural and artistic heritage preservation agency. (Refer to Figure 5 in the gallery.)

Suriname women’s traditional agriculture meeting and workshop

ACT is working with the Stichting NANA, a Surinamese women’s support foundation, to promote traditional agriculture technologies in order to sustainably augment the women’s family food supplies. In a three-day workshop in January, ACT staff provided information on mixed cropping in traditional agriculture, soil preparation, and crop rotation to combat parasol ants and other pests. New crop species of high nutrient concentration were introduced and cultivated.

Continuation of Trio traditional land mapping enhancement project, Suriname

As reported in our previous newsletter, the ethnographic map of the areas of traditional use of the Trio indigenous communities of southwestern Suriname is in the process of being revised and updated. At the time of its publication in 2000, it was the first map of its kind of the region, as well as the map that launched a series of indigenous mapping projects in other Amazonian regions by ACT and our partner indigenous groups.

In recent months, ACT staff coordinated and organized mapping workshops and provided training and guidance to Trio community members in order to realize their desire to revise and improve the detail of the maps’ content with advancements in GIS technology. In both January and February, a mapping team comprised of community members and ACT technical staff embarked on lengthy expeditions in which the indigenous researchers gathered data on locations with high concentrations of medicinal plants, tribal fishing and hunting locations, sacred sites, river courses and waterfalls while geo-referencing and downloading coordinates with GPS units. The mapping team embarked on a third expedition in late April 2006.

Suriname Land Management Meeting and Workshops

In January, ACT staff met with the chairman of the Land Rights Commission for the Surinamese Ministry of Spatial Planning, Forest and Land Management to further develop a consultative body for consensus on land rights matters between the Ministry and tribal communities. Central to these discussions is the concept of land management by tribal people serving as the eyes and ears of the government in remote areas. It was resolved that Surinamese government officials and ACT would hold a structural meeting with Trios and Wayana representatives each month, with ACT providing the means for the tribal participants to attend. ACT has compiled a status report on land rights in Suriname and on an international level that can be used as a reference by the Commission.

From January 30-February 7, in the capital city of Paramaribo, ACT coordinated a workshop with the overarching objective of establishing structural and sustainable communication regarding land rights between the indigenous peoples of southern Suriname and Surinamese government officials. Represented were the Land Rights Commission of the Ministry of Regional Planning, Land Policy, and Forest Management; the Trio and Wayana Amerindian groups, including the tribal chieftains; the Organization of Indigenous Village Heads of Suriname; and the National Institute for Environment and Development of Suriname. Visions, perspectives, strategies and experiences were shared between all parties, commonalities were identified in the visions of the indigenous delegation and the government, and the indigenous delegation presented the Minister with three ethnographic maps of traditional land use that they produced with ACT’s guidance and technical assistance. Ultimately, a draft proposal for indigenous land rights, which enumerated indigenous ideas regarding land management and protection for cultural and ecological preservation, was developed with all of the essential stakeholders and then submitted to the government officials for review.