Acaté Amazon Conservation is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

founded in 2012 by physician-ethnobotanist Christopher Herndon, M.D. and sustainable agriculturist William Park. Acaté Amazon Conservation works with the indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon to help protect the Amazon rainforest while providing the indigenous people economic opportunities. Notable initiatives include permaculture methods for

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is agriculture, farming in sustainability, sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an ...

, generating income through renewable non-timber resources as well as preservation of

traditional knowledge Traditional knowledge (TK), indigenous knowledge (IK), folk knowledge, and local knowledge generally refers to knowledge systems embedded in the cultural traditions of regional, indigenous, or local communities. Traditional knowledge includes ...

and culture.

Three Pillars of Acaté

Working directly with the

Matsés The Matsés or Mayoruna are an indigenous people of the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon. Their traditional homelands are located between the Javari and Galvez rivers. The Matsés have long guarded their lands from other indigenous tribes and stru ...

people, one of the largest indigenous populations in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, Acaté Amazon Conservation is implementing strategic programs that provide much needed revenue without destroying their land and chosen way of life.

Sustainable Economy

Acaté has developed alternative approaches for viable long-term generation of revenue for

communities that provides alternatives for unsustainable and destructive activities. These include the sustainable harvest and marketing of non-timber forest products with medicinal or cosmetic value, such as

copaiba Copaiba is an oleoresin obtained from the trunk of several pinnate-leaved South American leguminous trees (genus ''Copaifera''). The thick, transparent exudate varies in color from light gold to dark brown, depending on the ratio of resin to esse ...

and

sangre de grado ''Croton lechleri'' is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, that is native to northwestern South America. It is commonly known as ''sangre de grado'' (Peruvian Spanish), ''sangre de drago'' (Ecuadorian Spanish) or ' ...

Indigenous Medicine

Acaté Amazon Conservation seeks to maintain self-sufficiency of health care through the promotion of traditional systems of medicine. Acaté provides programmatic support for elder tribal shamans to teach and impart the knowledge of the rainforest to younger generations of

and has successfully completed the first medicinal encyclopedia in the

Matsés language Matsés, also referred to as Mayoruna in Brazil, is an Indigenous language utilized by the Matsés, inhabitants of the border regions of Brazil and Peru. Matsés communities are located along the Javari River basin of the Amazon, which forms a ...

, documenting and thus preserving the use of

medicinal plants Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including Plant defense against h ...

for the benefit of future generations.

Permaculture Methods for Sustainable Agriculture

Acaté is working with traditional

tribes to build sustainable and resilient living systems that provide food staples for their communities. Acaté is implementing projects with the communities to apply concepts of

permaculture Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using Systems theory, whole-systems thinking. It applies t ...

, the goal being to adapt the Matsés farming practices around their fixed settlements to more sustainable methods thereby increasing the local biodiversity.

History

Etymology

Acaté Amazon Conservation is named after the indigenous term for the giant monkey tree frog, 'Acaté', scientific name ''

Phyllomedusa bicolor ''Phyllomedusa bicolor'', the giant leaf frog, bicolor tree-frog, giant monkey frog, or waxy-monkey treefrog, is a species of leaf frog. It can be found in the Amazon basin of Brazil, Colombia ( Amazonas), Bolivia, and Peru, and can also be fou ...

'' used ceremonially by the

Matsés people The Matsés or Mayoruna are an indigenous people of the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon. Their traditional homelands are located between the Javari and Galvez rivers. The Matsés have long guarded their lands from other indigenous tribes and stru ...

Peruvian Amazon Peruvian Amazonia (), informally known locally as the Peruvian jungle () or just the jungle (), is the area of the Amazon rainforest in Peru, east of the Andes and Peru's borders with Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, and Bolivia. Peru has the second-l ...

. The skin secretions of the Acaté frog have been shown to contain powerful

antimicrobial An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms (microbicide) or stops their growth (bacteriostatic agent). Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they are used to treat. For example, antibiotics are used aga ...

and angiostatic properties.

References

External links

* http://acateamazon.org * http://acateamazon.org/acate/our-team * https://www.facebook.com/acateamazon?fref=ts {{DEFAULTSORT:Acate Amazon Conservation Environmental organisations based in Peru Non-profit organisations based in Peru