2020 Annual Report

A Vast Expansion of Andoke Lands

In 2020, with technical and legal support from ACT, the Andoke de Aduche indigenous reserve of the Andoke people in Colombia was expanded by more than 126,000 hectares (311,000 acres). The reserve now holds more than 188,000 hectares (460,000 acres) of tropical rainforest and connects to a 10-million-hectare (25-million-acre) conservation corridor the size of Portugal. This land designation protects Andoke communal land in perpetuity and is critical for the cultural survival of this vulnerable population. It also safeguards part of the Araracuara region, a landscape sacred to the Andoke and other indigenous peoples in the area. Additionally, the territory contains irreplaceable biodiversity, including endangered fauna such as the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) and the Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis).

With this expansion, ACT has assisted in the legal designation of nearly one million hectares (2.5 million acres) of indigenous land in the country, amounting to almost half of all lands in Colombia titled to indigenous peoples in the last decade.

Return of Ancestral Land to the Kogui

For the Kogui people of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the recovery of ancestral territory is a paramount objective. In 2020, for the Kogui communities of the Jerez River watershed, ACT purchased a 64-hectare (158-acre) property on ancestral lands that had been colonized by outsiders decades ago. This culturally significant location, known as Shindua to the Kogui, embraces multiple sacred sites, including one where the Kogui carry out traditional baptism ceremonies. Geographically, Shindua is a unique terrain with a number of small streams feeding rivers that later reach Jaba Tañiwashkaka, a sacred site on the Caribbean coast that was previously acquired with ACT’s support. As the ancestral land of the Kogui is slowly consolidated, not only is the geographic and ecological connectivity of the Sierra Nevada restored, but also the spiritual and cultural connectivity of the region’s people.

Protecting Isolated Peoples with Satellite Imagery

ACT believes that the safety of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation in Amazonia is one of the most urgent human rights and environmental issues of the 21st century. These communities have chosen to avoid contact and are some of the last human populations that survive on forest resources alone. They reside in the most remote corners of the Amazon rainforest, making the protection of their territories essential for the preservation of intact forests that maintain enormous levels of biodiversity and help mitigate climate change. Furthermore, respecting their right to self-determination helps preserve a vital part of humankind’s cultural diversity and heritage.

ACT actively monitors and protects these groups by supporting community patrol posts, reviewing satellite imagery, and carrying out overflight missions. In 2020, with satellite imagery, ACT detected the presence of illegal gold mining activity close to a known community of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, who have little immunity to illnesses common to the Western world. These trespassers put the community in danger of contact, and their territory in danger of exploitation. ACT’s monitoring resulted in the removal of these illegal actors by area authorities and the continued well-being of these vulnerable populations.

Supporting Self-Sufficient Livelihoods in the Northwest Amazon

In Colombia’s Andes-Amazon transition region, ACT has been partnering with indigenous and rural communities to improve livelihoods through the implementation of solar energy technologies and agroforestry practices. As national lockdowns were put in place in South America to prevent the spread of COVID-19, markets, trade, and transportation came to a standstill. During this time, many Amazonian families experienced food and energy insecurity, but our community partners who had well-established agroforestry systems and access to renewable energy did not face such issues. This emergency reinforced for us the importance increasing local communities’ autonomy in land management, governance, and especially livelihoods. To that end, through 2020, 78,593 trees for agroforestry systems have been planted, and 8,467 hectares of associated land have been put under voluntary conservation agreements since 2017. Moreover, in 2020, 122 individuals benefitted from installed solar systems. Going forward, we seek the expansion of these initiatives to further regions in Amazonia in order to increase the autonomy of more communities.

A Landmark Partnership Brings Better Access and Understanding of Rights

In 2020, ACT signed a partnership agreement with the Colombian Constitutional Court to improve the access of the nation’s indigenous peoples to their legal guarantees, protections, and rights. This collaboration will result in a new digital platform, a mechanism for improved citizen inclusion that strengthens the outreach work of the Court to all ethnic communities. To date, ACT has helped translate legal decisions into over 26 indigenous languages. It is our hope that this work will help prevent violations against the rights of the country’s indigenous groups and protect their autonomy, territory, and culture—critical to many of these groups’ very survival.

Leadership of the Amazon Conservation Rangers

During the height of the pandemic in 2020, the Amazon Conservation Rangers of Suriname—community members who monitor their territories—demonstrated new levels of autonomy, not only in forest management, but also as leaders supporting their community in times of need. The rangers collected data on how the villages were coping with the national lockdown, distributed PPE, taught the communities to make face masks, and assisted healthcare agencies that visited the villages.

During this time, 16 rangers from indigenous and afro-descendant communities were still committed to continued remote training with ACT. The rangers learned and applied technologies such as satellite-based early warning systems, mapping tools, data collection apps, and camera traps. And ACT developed guidebooks on the use of these new technologies in their indigenous languages, providing a long-term reference for the communities.

In 2020, the high price of gold summoned an influx of illegal gold miners into southern Suriname. As an immediate result of the monitoring of the Sipaliwini Nature Reserve by the community’s rangers, the presence of such miners was detected and pertinent authorities were alerted, resulting in the miners’ prompt removal—a further demonstration of the leadership and efficacy of the Ranger program.

Sustainable Income-Generating Projects in the Forests of Suriname

As forest-dwelling communities in Amazonia are progressively folded into the global economy, more villagers are leaving for the cities or being drawn into extractive industries for lack of alternatives. To prevent the environmental destruction and devaluation of traditional lifeways and territorial knowledge associated with these trends, ACT incubates sustainable livelihood projects that generate income at home.

In the indigenous village of Kwamalasamutu in southern Suriname, ACT helped guide the development of an herbal tea project in 2017. Today the project continues to expand and incorporate new participants. To keep up with this growth, in 2020 ACT upgraded the physical infrastructure where the community processes tea and purchased a new tea dryer and solar-powered water filtration system. In addition, six project participants received formal training in project management, hygiene, and food safety in Suriname’s capital.

ACT also supports income-generating projects that promote traditional forest knowledge and biodiversity, such as beekeeping. Today, honey and propolis, a medicinal resin, are being produced by four partner communities in Suriname. And at the close of 2020, Kwamalasamutu hosted more than 130 active hives, a number that continues to increase as more and more bee boxes are constructed.

A Community Center for Remote Communications

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges that impacted the execution of ACT’s field activities as planned. In Suriname, for most of 2020, staff could not travel to communities in the interior, and our office operated with minimal in-person staff. It was not clear when or if ACT staff would be able to return to regular, in-person interactions with our partner communities. To ensure that ACT could continue to lead workshops and effectively communicate in the large indigenous settlement of Kwamalasamutu, at the request of the community we established a remote community learning and media center in the village. The center, powered by solar energy, is furnished with internet connectivity, a large monitor, laptops, desktop computers, and a projector. The center has not only enabled the continuity of biocultural conservation projects, but also kept the community safely in contact with the outside world. This investment will serve as an important tool for the community to further develop their own education, internal governance, and healthcare projects.

Preserving Oral Histories, Protecting Cultural Heritage

The Matawai are one of six Maroon groups in Suriname, descendants of enslaved Africans who fled into the rainforest over 300 years ago. Their territories in the rainforests of northeast South America are home to traditions and cultural knowledge that risk being lost as older generations die out and as younger ones move away or lose interest. In 2020, in partnership with ACT, the Matawai released an interactive storytelling map, titled  Lands of Freedom , showcasing centuries-old oral histories of their ancestral lands and culture.

The Matawai collaborated with ACT to record, compile and digitize an unprecedented repository of stories, including place-based narratives mapped to more than 700 sacred sites, settlements, and other places of significance across their territory. The interactive storymap integrates these oral histories, vintage photographs, and archival documents recovered by the Matawai in recent years. Lands of Freedom serves as an important landmark in the endeavor to preserve, recognize, and honor the intangible cultural heritage of Maroon peoples.

Safeguarding a Vital Sea Turtle Nursery

Among ACT’s small portfolio of satellite initiatives outside of Amazonia, ACT has partnered with the NGO Tortugas Preciosas to protect the sea turtles of Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. Home to 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity, the Osa Peninsula is where many Hawksbill (critically endangered), Olive Ridley (vulnerable), and Green (endangered) sea turtles return to lay their eggs. To protect the peninsula’s beaches, the nests of these three species, and adjacent ecosystems, Tortugas Preciosas collaborates with volunteers, local communities, and the Costa Rican Park Service. While these partners and volunteers patrol beaches, transfer vulnerable nests, and guide turtle hatchlings to sea, they also raise public awareness about the turtles and the threats they face. To date, over 397 patrols have protected the beaches where sea turtle eggs are laid, covering 750 kilometers (466 miles). As a result of these patrols, over 300 wild nests were protected and monitored, nearly 250 nests safely relocated, and over 1,600 eggs cared for in their nursery, resulting in a 60% reduction in the predation of nests in the region and more baby turtles able to make their journey safely to the sea.