ACT UPDATE   October 17 , 2005

Dear Friends,

ACT is pleased to report on several events of note during a very active and productive September:
1. Conclusion of the first Indigenous Park Guard Training Course, Tumucumaque Mountains region, Brazil
2. Completion of Ethnographic Mapping of Wayana Lands, Southeastern Suriname
3. ACT's work highlighted in Duracell commercial

A special thanks goes out to all who support and have contributed to ACT to make these accomplishments possible.

1. Conclusion of first Indigenous Park Guard Training Course

In late September 2005, ACT-Brazil staff, working in the northeastern state of Amapá, concluded the first Indigenous Park Guard training course ever presented in Brazil. 22 male candidates hailing from the Tiriyó, Kaxuyana, Apalaí, and Wayana communities of the Tumucumaque Mountains region, through agreements with their respective indigenous organizations-APITIKATXI (Association of the Tiriyó, Kaxuyana, and Txikuyana Indigenous People) and APITU (Association of Indigenous People of Tumucumaque-comprised of the Wayana and Apalaí people)-were transported to Macapá for several months of training by ACT staff. The newly certified rangers will staff and patrol areas surrounding traditional lands throughout various locations in and around the 9,562,770 acre Tumucumaque Mountains National Park. The Park, which lies adjacent to the Tumucumaque Indigenous Park, which was ethnographically mapped by ACT and the tribes in cooperation with the Brazilian government in 2002, is the largest national rainforest reserve in South America. By 2007, ACT hopes to have trained a total of 60 indigenous park guards.

The project was led by ACT Project Coordinator Marcelo Segalerba, while staff biologist Sandro Benevides, staff anthropologist Julio Cesar Borges, cartographic specialist Marcos Sebastiao Ataide, and assistant Rodrigo Del Monte also helped coordinate and instruct the park ranger classes. Additional support came thanks to Arlison Kleber, Alannah Mendes, and field intern Margarida Bronzoni. The curriculum included training in border enforcement, indigenous law, basic administration, basic computing, development of projects and proposals, biological resource protection, cartography, interpretation and analysis of risk assessments, orienteering and navigation with GPS receivers, and proficiency in radio communication.

In accord with ACT's guiding philosophy that the health of indigenous cultures and the forests they live in are inextricably linked, the newly certified indigenous park rangers have the potential to demonstrate that their effort to defend their traditional lands enormously leverages environmental protection in the region, and represent a significant advance in ACT's effort to build indigenous capacity so that these communities have the tools to face the challenges of the modern era on their own terms. Congratulations to ACT-Brazil staff for their hard work; to APITIKATXI and APITU; and to the Tiriyó, Kaxuyana, Apalaí, and Wayana communities for courageously progressing toward the safeguarding of their traditional lands!

(For another perspective on ACT's conservation work take a look the ACT- Macapa intern's account about her experience with the park ranger course in: "A Report from the Field: Experiencing love for nature on the shores of the Amazon")

2. Completion of cultural mapping of Wayana traditional land use in southeastern Suriname

On September 29th, in the remote village of Apetina of southeastern Suriname, ACT formally presented the final printed cultural map of Wayana tribal land used by the chieftain of the Wayana communities of southeastern Suriname, representing the completion of a multi-year effort to ethnographically map all traditional indigenous lands of southern Suriname, all together covering over 14 million acres. The maps were the result of a collaborative effort between the Wayana communities, the ACT-Suriname and Brazil teams, and the mapping agency of the government of Suriname (CBL). The maps are now the property of the Wayana communities and will serve to guide various aspects of land management by informing risk assessments and proposed land-use strategies; aiding in conflict resolution/prevention; and in particular, demonstrating the continued strong use of indigenous communities of all their traditional lands, which have historically been portrayed as "uninhabited" by other mapping techniques. The symbols for the Wayana map legend were designed by Wayana community members, and terms appear in 3 languages: Wayana, Dutch, and English. Since 2000, in partnership with local tribes and governments, ACT has ethnographically mapped over 30,000 million acres of indigenous territory across the Amazon.

3. Debut of Duracell Commercial

Keep an eye out for a Duracell commercial featuring ACT's indigenous mapping efforts. The 30-second piece is currently airing nationwide in the United States.