Greetings from the Peruvian Amazon!
As the year winds down, we couldn’t be more proud and thankful for everything we’ve all accomplished in 2022. We were able to serve a total of 120 kids with high-quality environmental education project this year, for instance, and our research with butterflies resulted in 5 articles in scientific publications—all led by students and other early-career researchers.
Together, these ongoing projects generate important information needed for effective, science-based conservation and build capacity in our community by providing valuable training and professional development opportunities for the next generation of scientists and environmental leaders in Peru.
Thank you so much for being a part of our effort to protect the Amazon rainforest. We hope you have a wonderful holiday season, and we are excited to keep you updated on our work into the new year.
With gratitude, Geoff, Johana, and the entire ASA team
Greetings from the Peruvian Amazon!
What a great first half of the year we’ve had! Our children finally made it to Fincas Las Piedras – our research and educational center in the Peruvian Amazon - to learn about mammals. So far, we have worked with over 80 children from rural schools using the book called “Who is there?” – a beautiful resource about mammals captured with camera traps in our own station as well as in others throughout the region (free download here). This project, was made in collaboration with the Red de Aprendizaje y Conservación, led by NatGeo explorer Carmen Chávez.
As for our research, we continue generating important information about Amazonian biodiversity and equipping the next generation of Peruvian biologists and conservationists. Our research residency program was a complete success, and all our selected undergraduate students of the year had a meaningful and productive experience in the project. One of them will even help describe a new species to science!
As always, all of this wouldn’t be possible without your support, so thank you for being our champions!
With gratitude,
Geoff, Johana and the rest of the ASA team.
Greetings from the Peruvian Amazon!
It seems it was yesterday when we shared some our accomplishments of last year, but 2022 is already way in and many things have already happened at Finca Las Piedras, our research and education center in the Peruvian Amazon! While our research team keeps working hard and producing half a dozen of new scientific articles for the year, our research residency program for Peruvian undergraduate students selected four bright young individuals for placements during the first half of the year. Through this program, we expect to contribute to these students’ scientific training. This means that our work has a double impact—not only are we generating important information about Amazonian biodiversity, but we are equipping the next generation of Peruvian biologists and conservationists with the professional tools they need to succeed and keep making an impact.
As for our environmental education program, we are putting the final touches for what it will be a great year working again with local children. In collaboration with the Red de Aprendizaje y Conservación, led by NatGeo explorer Carmen Chávez, we will be using the resources of her recently released book called “Who is there?” – a beautiful book about mammals captured with camera traps in our own station as well as in others throughout the region. Our children will be learning about mammals with pictures taken from their own forests!
We are very excited about everything that is planned for the rest of the year and are always very grateful for your support to make it happen.
With gratitude,
Geoff, Johana and the rest of the ASA team.
Hello from Peru!
The rainy season is now in full swing here in the Amazon which, for us anyway, means the holidays are upon us. We thought we’d update you with some of our exciting accomplishments as we wrap things up for the year.
Research is an important part of our work to protect biodiversity, and we’ve made great progress. We have, for instance, documented hundreds of species of butterflies and other animal and plant species at Finca Las Piedras and throughout the SE Peruvian Amazon, and we have documented the life cycles—what the caterpillars look like, and what plant species they feed on—of more than 20 butterflies, all for the first time! This information is important because it is the foundation for understanding the threat status of species in the Amazon, and this information is not available for the vast majority of species here. We’re also incredibly proud of the fact that we have more than 10 articles either in progress or already published in scientific journals, all with Peruvian students as authors. This means that our work has a double impact—not only are we generating important baseline information about Amazonian biodiversity, but we are equipping the next generation of Peruvian biologists and conservationists with the professional tools they need to succeed and keep making an impact.
On the reforestation front, this has been our most successful year yet. We have worked with several of our local Brazil nut harvester families to plant young Brazil nut trees in their concessions for the sustainable harvest of this important non-timber forest product, helping to strengthen the management of nearly 10,000 acres of natural rainforest in our community. We have also planted thousands of trees in different areas at Finca Las Piedras, our research and education center, that will one day provide food and shelter for a dizzying variety of Amazonian wildlife and serve as a model for more sustainable land use in our region. Our final task was to prepare thousands of seedlings in our brand new shade house for planting next year, to keep our reforestation success expanding into 2022.
Finally, we have made great progress this year in environmental education. With restrictions related to COVID-19 slowly starting to ease in Peru, we were able to safely resume working directly with our local children to deliver quality educational experiences. This year we brought 120 children from 8 single-teacher rural schools in our region to Finca Las Piedras to learn about Amazonian biodiversity and its importance. This was the first such experience for the majority of these kids, and it will be an important first step in helping them form strong environmental identities. We’re excited to keep the momentum going into 2022.
Thank you so much for your continued support. We need the Amazon and without your help we would not be able to keep fighting for it. Happy holidays!
With gratitude,
Geoff, Johana, & the ASA team
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