Amazon Conservation Team

The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) is a United States-based nonprofit conservation organization focused on tropical South America, especially the Amazon rainforest. Founded in 1996 by ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin and Costa Rican conservationist Liliana Madrigal, ACT works directly with Indigenous peoples and organizations to protect biodiversity while strengthening territorial rights, cultural continuity, community governance, and traditional knowledge. Its principal geographic programs are in Brazil, Colombia, and Suriname, supported by a headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and field offices in those three countries. ACT's defining approach is often described as biocultural conservation. Rather than treating ecological protection and Indigenous rights as separate agendas, the organization combines participatory mapping, land-tenure support, conservation planning, community monitoring, cultural documentation, and traditional-medicine programs. Its work is designed around collaboration and community consent, with Indigenous partners participating in decisions about how territories, stories, sacred sites, natural resources, and medicinal knowledge are documented and protected. ACT has worked with more than 50 Indigenous groups since its creation. A major part of the organization's work is helping communities secure and manage land. ACT has supported the expansion or creation of more than 1.8 million acres of Indigenous reserves and helped secure approximately 193,000 acres of national parkland, according to figures summarized in reference material. Its partners have collaboratively mapped more than 76 million acres, recording land use, ancestral places, sacred sites, and natural resources. By 2020, ACT reported that more than 5 million acres had been placed under improved sustainable management. Examples of mapping and territorial-management work include Brazil's Xingu, Suruí, and Tumucumaque Indigenous territories. ACT also supports Indigenous stewardship and enforcement capacity. Its Map, Manage, Protect model generally moves from participatory ethnographic mapping and environmental assessment to community management planning, followed by training in conservation monitoring and coordination with government agencies. The organization conducts an Indigenous park-ranger training program certified by the International Ranger Federation. In Colombia, it helped support protected-area models that connect national conservation institutions with resident Indigenous communities, including Alto Fragua Indi Wasi National Park and the Orito-Ingi Ande Medicinal Plant Sanctuary. Traditional knowledge is another central area. Through its Shamans and Apprentices work, ACT has collaborated with communities in Colombia and Suriname to maintain Indigenous health systems and transmit ethnobotanical knowledge between elders and younger generations. In Suriname, it helped establish traditional-medicine clinics in several interior communities. In Colombia, it helped establish ASOMI, an association of Indigenous women traditional healers whose cultural-education program reaches Indigenous students. ACT's work also addresses intellectual-property concerns surrounding medicinal knowledge and seeks to prevent the loss or inappropriate exploitation of community-held traditions. The organization has contributed technical and legal assistance to efforts protecting isolated and uncontacted Indigenous peoples. In Colombia, it supported the development of protection guidance for isolated communities in national parks, including Río Puré and Cahuinarí. Its assistance contributed to Colombia's 2018 national policy recognizing the right of isolated peoples to remain isolated and calling for protection of their territories through cooperation between state institutions and Indigenous organizations. ACT has also developed digital tools for community-controlled cultural documentation. Terrastories is a free, open-source geostorytelling application that allows…

The Amazon Conservation Team was established in 1996 by ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin and Costa Rican conservationist Liliana Madrigal. From the beginning, the organization pursued a form of conservation that treated Indigenous communities as rights-holders and conservation partners rather than simply as beneficiaries of outside environmental programs. Its geographic focus developed across the northwest, northeast, and southern Amazon, with substantial activity in Colombia, Suriname, and Brazil. ACT's early and continuing work centered on documenting Indigenous territories, supporting land recognition, and helping communities manage forests according to their own cultural priorities. The organization's collaborative mapping programs combine geographic information with ethnographic records, oral histories, sacred places, customary land use, and knowledge of plants and other resources. This approach produced maps intended not merely for scientific analysis but also for land claims, community planning, cultural education, and engagement with government conservation agencies. The organization later formalized this work through its Map, Manage, Protect framework. Communities and technical partners first undertake participatory mapping and environmental diagnostics. They then develop management plans that seek to balance territorial protection with sustainable livelihoods. Finally, community members receive training in monitoring and conservation enforcement, while Indigenous representatives build working relationships with public environmental authorities. ACT has applied related methods in large Brazilian Indigenous territories including Xingu, Suruí, and Tumucumaque. A second historical strand has been the preservation of traditional medicine and ethnobotanical knowledge. ACT worked with Cofan, Inga, Siona, Kamsá, and Coreguaje communities in Colombia and with Trio and Wayana communities in Suriname. Its programs emphasize transmission from senior healers to younger apprentices, the maintenance of local health systems, and the protection of community control over medicinal knowledge. In Suriname, the organization supported traditional-medicine clinics in Kwamalasamutu, Tepu, Apetina, and Gonini mofo. In Colombia, ACT supported ASOMI, an Indigenous women's traditional-medicine association that also developed cultural education activities. ACT expanded its conservation portfolio through protected-area creation and co-management. In Colombia, it partnered with government institutions and Indigenous communities in the creation of Alto Fragua Indi Wasi National Park and the Orito-Ingi Ande Medicinal Plant Sanctuary. Alto Fragua Indi Wasi was notable for its co-management relationship with the resident Inga community, while Orito-Ingi Ande was designed specifically around the protection of medicinal flora. Protection of isolated and uncontacted peoples became another important area of activity. ACT assisted Colombia's National Park Service with guidelines and contingency planning for isolated communities in Río Puré and Cahuinarí national parks. Overflights supported by ACT in 2010 and 2011 identified longhouses believed to belong to peoples previously thought to have disappeared. These efforts contributed to a broader Colombian policy process, culminating in the government's July 2018 approval of a national framework affirming the right of isolated groups to avoid contact and requiring protection of their territories. The policy was notable for combining state mechanisms with Indigenous participation and free, prior, and informed consent processes. The organization has also invested in technology and replicable methods. Terrastories emerged from a 2018 Ruby for Good project developed for the Matawai community in Suriname. ACT subsequently used and refined the open-source application with Indigenous communities in Brazil and Colombia. The tool allows communities to attach oral narratives to places, manage access permissions, work offline, and customize map interfaces. ACT has published guides on collaborative cultural mapping, Indigenous land titling, and recording place-based oral histories, extending its methods beyond its own field programs. Recognition followed as ACT's model became more visible internationally. It received the UNEP Global 500 Award in 2002, the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2008, a Tech Awards Laureate distinction in 2010, and DigitalGlobe's Seeing a Better World Award in 2015. The organization's partnership with Chantecaille in 2020 demonstrated another funding and outreach model: a commercial beauty collection used a percentage of sales to support ACT's work with Indigenous women healers and biodiversity in the Colombian Andean Amazon. ACT remains an active nonprofit with headquarters in Arlington and field offices in Brazil, Colombia, and Suriname.

1. 2020Chantecaille conservation partnership

   A Chantecaille makeup collection directed five percent of sales to ACT-supported conservation work.

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2. 2018Terrastories development begins

   ACT initiated development of the open-source Terrastories platform for community-controlled mapping of oral histories.

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3. 2018Colombian policy for isolated Indigenous peoples approved

   Colombia approved a national protection policy developed with ACT assistance and Indigenous participation.

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4. 2015Seeing a Better World Award

   DigitalGlobe recognized ACT's use of geospatial information in conservation.

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5. 2010Tech Awards Laureate

   ACT was recognized for technology-assisted mapping of the Amazon.

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6. 2008Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship

   The Skoll Foundation recognized ACT's social and environmental model.

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7. 2004World Bank Development Marketplace Award

   ACT's integrated-medicine project received a World Bank Development Marketplace Award.

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8. 2003Traditional-knowledge work included in UNESCO/Nuffic best-practices publication

   ACT's traditional-medicine initiative in Suriname was selected as an example of Indigenous-knowledge practice.

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9. 2002UNEP Global 500 Award

   ACT received Global 500 recognition from the United Nations Environment Programme.

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10. 1996Amazon Conservation Team founded

    Mark Plotkin and Liliana Madrigal established ACT to link Amazon conservation with Indigenous rights, knowledge, and territorial protection.

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A biocultural-conservation nonprofit that combines rainforest protection with Indigenous territorial rights, self-determination, cultural preservation, and community-led stewardship.

• Map, Manage, ProtectCommunity conservation program

  ACT's core territorial-conservation methodology combines participatory ethnographic mapping, ethno-environmental assessment, community management planning, and training in monitoring and enforcement. The model is intended to help Indigenous partners document their territories, pursue land protection, develop sustainable-management priorities, and coordinate with public conservation authorities.

• Shamans and ApprenticesTraditional knowledge program

  This program supports the intergenerational transmission of Indigenous medical and ethnobotanical knowledge. ACT has worked with healer communities in Colombia and Suriname, supporting traditional clinics, apprenticeships, cultural education, and community control of knowledge associated with medicinal plants and health practices.

• TerrastoriesOpen-source mapping software2018

  Terrastories is a free, open-source geostorytelling application designed for communities to map oral histories and culturally significant places. It supports online and offline use, multimedia stories, customizable maps, and access controls that allow communities to restrict sensitive information. ACT has used it with communities in Suriname, Brazil, and Colombia.

• Indigenous territorial mapping and land titlingTechnical and legal assistance1996

  ACT provides participatory mapping, documentation, and technical assistance connected with Indigenous territorial recognition and management. The work records customary use, ancestral sites, sacred places, and natural resources while supporting community planning and engagement with public institutions.

• 2020Chantecaille Amazon Hummingbird Collection

  International

  Beauty company Chantecaille partnered with ACT on a makeup collection inspired by the Amazon hummingbird and the Colombian rainforest. Five percent of sales supported ACT's work with ASOMI and biodiversity conservation in the Andean Amazon.

  Outcome. The partnership created a consumer-facing fundraising channel for ACT's Indigenous women healers and biodiversity programs.

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• 2018Support a national protection framework for isolated peoplesStrategy

  Colombia needed a national framework for protecting Indigenous groups living in voluntary isolation, including safeguards against unwanted contact and territorial incursions.

  What changed. ACT provided technical and legal support to a government-led process involving Indigenous organizations and public institutions, with emphasis on Indigenous participation and free, prior, and informed consent.

  Aftermath. Colombia approved the policy on 17 July 2018, recognizing the right of isolated groups to remain isolated and establishing a protection system involving both Indigenous and state actors.

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• 2018Develop Terrastories as an open-source cultural-mapping platformProduct launch

  ACT identified a need for communities to preserve place-based oral histories while retaining control over sensitive cultural information.

  What changed. The organization initiated development of Terrastories, an online and offline mapping application with community-managed story creation, customization, and privacy controls.

  Aftermath. The platform was subsequently used with Indigenous communities in Suriname, Brazil, and Colombia and made available as free open-source software.

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• 2020Chantecaille launches ACT-linked Amazon hummingbird collection

  Chantecaille released a makeup collection inspired by the Colombian Amazon, directing five percent of sales to ACT-supported conservation work.

  CampaignProduct launch
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• 2018Colombia adopts national policy for isolated Indigenous peoples

  Colombia approved a national policy protecting isolated Indigenous groups, developed with technical and legal support from ACT and participation by Indigenous organizations.

  RegulationOther
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• 2010ACT recognized as a Tech Awards Laureate

  The organization was recognized for applying technology to Amazon mapping and conservation work.

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• 2008ACT receives Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship

  The Skoll Foundation recognized ACT's community-centered conservation model with a social-entrepreneurship award.

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• 2002Amazon Conservation Team receives UNEP Global 500 recognition

  The organization received United Nations Environment Programme Global 500 recognition for conservation achievements.

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1. Amazon Conservation Team
2. Amazon Conservation Team official website