Physical Health Peru Project #22284

Sustaining Matses Indigenous Medicine - Phase II

by Acate Amazon Conservation

Project Report | Oct 12, 2023
September 2023 Field Report - Integrated Aquatic Ecosystems, Food Security, and Women's Empowerment

By Christopher Herndon and William Park | Founders

Surveying areas for aquaculture site placement

Acaté and Matsés communities launch a large scale initiative to support food security, sustainable income opportunities, and women’s empowerment –

Before first contact with missionaries in 1969, every three years or so the Matsés moved their settlements to a new locality where animal game was more abundant. This abundance of game was complemented well by the Matsés’ starch-rich, but protein-poor, polyculture-swidden production. The swidden agriculture of the Matsés is perfectly adapted to their pre-contact semi-nomadic lifestyle, but due to their recent change to a sedentary settlement pattern with fixed communities, several challenges and deficiencies have arisen. Namely, these are 1) a shortage of protein, for which children are most impacted 2) the inevitable consequence that swiddens are constantly made further from the village, requiring women to transport the harvest on their backs long distances. 3) to access areas for hunting to provide protein for their families, Matsés hunters have to travel out farther and farther upriver to access game, requiring fuel and drawing families further into the cash economy with few economic opportunities to support it. As a result, in fixed settlements of present day Matsés communities, there is growing internal tension and competition over areas suitable for swiddens as well as the hunting and fishing grounds.

Aquaculture is the cultivation of fish, aquatic animals, or aquatic plants/algae in a controlled environment, sometimes called aquafarming. In the Peruvian Amazon there are many examples of successful commercial aquaculture projects, including the export of fish for upscale restaurants around the world. Examples of successful governmental and non-governmental projects are harder to find. In the case of the Matsés, all the previously attempted aquaculture projects conducted by NGO and government agencies over the past two decades have failed. The very real technical and operational challenges of aquaculture aside, the failure of previous projects was not a result of any fundamental intrinsic non-viability or lack of follow through by the Matsés. Some of these projects were out and out scams by external parties with all the funding disappearing prior to any significant activities materializing on the ground. Other projects that began with activities all lacked the necessary commitment and follow through; for example, providing materials, but no fish to stock or holding training sessions in just one village. In the one notable project, a full fish laboratory was actually built in Matsés territory but never finished or stocked with fish. The concrete and tiled structure is now dilapidated and abandoned.

Fish farms have always been a high priority of the Matsés. This is not surprising as most of the largest Matsés communities are on small streams (by Amazonian standards) and the wild fish stocks are reduced. The Matsés identified a large scale fish farm project as paramount for their food security and economic support and are highly motivated to support it. In response, our organization made this initiative a multi-year operational priority. We, with the backing and encouragement of funding partners, are committed to providing the necessary support to successfully realize this vital project for Matsés food security, conservation, and economic development.

Integrated Aquaculture

The objective is to build integrated aquaculture systems in all 19 Matsés communities, with multiple sites in the villages supporting larger populations. The term integrated aquaculture refers to the practice of adding another farming activity to the primary aquaculture activity. In the Amazon there are many types of frugivorous (fruit-eating) fish, they are seed dispersers, a similar role to birds in a non-flooded forest. By planting native fruit trees around the fishponds, the fruits will drop into the ponds, feeding the fish with little effort, and the community members, particularly children, can harvest the fruits as well.

Prior to contact, the Matsés were self-sufficient in the sense that they did not require resources from outside their territory; the only exception was steel axes and machetes. Today, with the advent of the public education system, adoption of manufactured clothing, and the use of metal pots, all Matsés families require a source of monetary income, yet opportunities to earn cash are extremely limited. The Matsés are among the few ethnic groups in Amazonia that practice the ritual use of the venomous skin secretions of the giant monkey frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor), known in the international market as “kambo”. Over the past decade, kambo catapulted from obscurity outside of its indigenous cultures to use in many countries of Europe and the United States.

The sale of kambo venom (in the form of dried secretions on a small balsa wood slat) has emerged to become one of the most important sources of incomes for the Matsés. This return of benefits to the Matsés is itself a remarkable and positive transformation: the origin story of the discovery of the Phyllomedusa bicolor secretions and its peptides decades ago by the outside world was formerly a case example of uncompensated misappropriation and theft of intellectual property from indigenous communities. Over the past six years, behind the scenes, Acaté has worked on behalf of the Matsés to serve as an unofficial liaison with international kambo practitioners and healing centers to help shift the sourcing of kambo, from individuals outside of the Matsés territory, to purchases directly from the Matsés communities themselves. Some kambo practitioners in the US and UK are concerned greatly with the well-being of the Matsés, and are further contributing a portion of proceeds to support programs to benefit the health and education of the Matsés and the preservation of their culture.

Giant monkey tree frogs build cone-shaped leaf-nests over bodies of water such that when the tadpoles are ready the gel that encloses the eggs liquifies and the tadpoles fall into the water. The Matsés capture these nocturnal treefrogs and remove the venom from their skin, and then release them without injuring them. The frogs can be “milked” every three months without harming the frogs, but one difficulty associated with the harvest of the venom is that these frogs are located by homing in on their mating calls; however, they only mate during the rainy season, so the income source is also seasonal. By capturing frogs and placing them in the trees with appropriate leaves for their nests the Matsés can easily locate the frogs at night with flashlights even when they are not calling, thus increasing the availability and sustainability of their kambo. The semi-domestication is important as the global demand for kambo is creating a situation in which the frogs are being sourced unsustainably. Although the range of Phyllomedusa bicolor extends across several countries in northern Amazonia, and is not endangered, overharvesting results in unnecessary mortalities among frog populations. In some areas, populations are being extirpated as result of the kambo trade. In addition to supporting sustainable husbandry and harvesting practices that minimizes impact on the frogs, the integrated aquaculture ponds can also act as holding ponds for turtle hatchlings while they grow sufficiently to increase the survival rate.

With the fish, frogs, turtles, and fruit trees all in the same location the ponds will become centers of activity. Further, there are many additional efficiencies gained through these integrated systems like using the muck removed from the bottom of the ponds as part of their maintenance as a fertilizer for the nitrogen poor-soils of the Amazon.

Activities:

Training: The first step for a successful project and to avoid the prior pitfalls is to invest heavily in training the Matsés to become experts in the construction and maintenance of integrated aquaculture systems. To integrate the Matsés’ extraordinary knowledge of the landscape and farming with best practices in the current science of aquaculture we launched the project with an intensive two-month training class led by a senior engineer from Iquitos and assisted by a recent graduate and junior engineer who is Matsés. The junior engineer helped with translating Spanish to Matsés and to make sure that the lessons were understood by all the class participants. Site selection is key for a successful fish farm, so the first portion of the class was dedicated to geomorphological properties and particularly hydrology. No amount of tamping can seal a pond with sandy soil, so they learned to identify areas with sufficient clay to hold the water. Placing a fishpond in a ravine would cause it to wash-out no matter how thick the dike, so they learned to balance the advantages of low-lying areas with being able to construct a dike sufficient to hold the water. During the class they built the first two fishponds, as hands-on is the best, but there were also important lessons that required some class work. Many ponds in the region fail because they do not calculate the ratio of dike height and width to the volume of water it will hold. Another important classroom topic was understanding the application of fertilizers to the water to establish a healthy environment for the fish. One skill that must be learned from experience is digging the well that will feed the pond. Once the first two fish-farms were completed, including the tree planting around the ponds, the newly trained individuals all worked together to build the third pond. This way they could reference each other and understand each other’s strengths and limitations. After this third pond was built, we all agreed that they could split up and we could build multiple ponds simultaneously. The Matsés who undertook this training trained others in each community, and so forth so knowledge and technical skills are widely disseminated.

Construction: As one can imagine, the logistical challenges were multifold. One was the transport of materials from Iquitos to the Matsés territories, especially the 6-meter-long PVC tubes. We sent the first load of materials for the training course by small plane. To fit the tubes, we had to cut them into three pieces and buy couplings so that the tubes could be rejoined on site. The hundreds of nylon sacks, wheelbarrows, and heavy tools meant that the shipment had to go on different planes chartered by three different agencies. We followed up with a truckload of supplies by ferry boat, but this was also difficult because there were no ferries (lanchas) with service from Iquitos all the way to Colonia Angamos (6-8 days journey). We found a ferry service to Islandia (another frontier river town in Peru) and then had to transship in Islandia for Angamos.

After selecting the right site based on the geomorphology, the next step is digging out and tamping the pond. The infiltration rate and water supply also must be balanced, but with good clay and proper tamping (packing down) the infiltration should be close to zero. It is important to remove organic material as leaving it will reduce the oxygen levels as it decomposes. There are also predatory insect larvae that can decimate the fish fry, but treatment of the clay with calcium carbonate helps seal the pond and remove the larvae. One factor often overlooked is the phytoplankton populations in the pond, this is essential for both feeding the fish and for oxygen production. We added a well-balanced NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) fertilizer to bootstrap the plankton population in the new ponds. Building the right size dike to hold the water accounting for natural compaction is critical to avoid overtopping or even dike collapse. The ponds are fed by wells, the surface water in the Amazon is shallow, so the wells can be dug with pics and shovels. The other important infrastructure is the diversion channel used to drain water away from the construction and to drain the pond in the future when necessary.

Once the pond and dike are complete the dike is planted with grass to avoid erosion and the trees that will eventually feed the fish (and children) are planted. The trees serve many uses, from frog habitat to providing shade to cool the water for the fish. The trees include staple crops like sweet bananas and plantains, fruit trees such as Pijuayo (Bactris gasipaes), Macambo (Theobroma bicolor), Annona (Annona muricata), Guava (Psidium guajava), and Gauba (Ingus edulus). The Matsés are planting medicinal plants as well; their knowledge exceeds 2000 plants.

In one of the most distal villages, very far upstream, where the stream is small and fishing opportunities are limited, the community joined together to construct a large fishpond. The dike is a full 6 meters thick and supports a pond that is 4,200 square meters in area. We are very pleased that the ponds are all holding water and we even had an enormous storm with flash flooding that put the ponds to the test. We are now in the dry season and thus far all the ponds are holding up very well.

Supplying fish: Stocking the ponds has been challenging due to the remoteness of the sites and will involve a combination of different short term and long term strategies. Firstly, the fish are largely sourced regionally from Iquitos and flow by small plane to Angamos, the gateway to the Matsés communities. The fry can survive in the transport boxes for up to 24 hrs and must be transported from the breeding facility to the local airport or Peruvian Air Force. Once there, they are required to pass a sanitary inspection to ensure they do not carry any pathogens that could endanger wild populations. The wildlife authorities must be notified and then they have to issue the certificate, which can take time. The flights involving small civilian or Air Force planes also face the risk of delays due to rains muddying the grass landing strip. Once the fish reach Angamos, then they have to go upriver to the nearest pond so they can recover for the rest of the journey.

For the first farms, the Matsés chose to stock with gamitana (Colossoma macropomum), also known as black pacu. This species is widely used in commercial aquaculture in the Peruvian Amazon due to its large size and delicious flesh. A relative of piranha, for which the juveniles bear a close resemblance and are often confused, gamitana has the additional advantages of being primarily vegetarian (unlike its cousin), disease resistant, and can thrive in low oxygen waters. The Matsés plan to add in boquichico (Prochilodus nigricans) and pacu (Piaractus brachypomus) as the aquaculture sites mature.

Women’s association: Women are underrepresented in Matsés tribal leadership and women’s issues are too often de-emphasized during meetings. For this initiative, we worked with Matsés to provide support for the development of a Matsés Women’s Association, the first in Matsés’ history and a significant step for their representation and leadership. The approach that the Matsés are implementing is to build this association is to develop it on the community level, one by one methodically and organically, rather than taking a top-down approach. Each village elects a four member women’s board. The formation of the women’s associations in each village is a key step towards food security and economic development. The women’s associations will further amplify the voices of women both within the villages and on the territory-wide basis. This exciting and important development of newly formed women’s associations, to build on the governance projects, will be reported on further in an upcoming field report.

Next steps:

As of writing, over this year, 12 large integrated aquaculture sites have been built in 7 Matsés communities, with 8 more in active construction! Additional sites planned for later in the year with the start of the rainy season. We learned that long-term planning and strategic scheduling are important due to the seasonal weather: the most distant villages are hard to reach during the dry season because the narrow streams run shallow and obstructed by partially submerged logs, so materials are best transported during the rainy season. The rainy season, however, is not ideal for digging fishponds because of the mud. With this in mind, we will be able to work even more efficiently during the next year.

After the introduction of fry, the Matsés are monitoring the development of the fish. The goal of the project, with sufficient funding, is to ultimately set up a breeding facility for the Matsés to supply fry to each pond on a bi-annual basis.

On behalf of our organization and indigenous partners, we express our deep gratitude to our supporters for their partnership and generosity which permitted the Matsés to realize the launch of this federation project that is so important to the food security, conservation, nutrition, and economic development of Matsés communities.

If you missed it, take a look at our January 2023 field report on the community-based initiative in partnership with Acaté to protect uncontacted tribal groups in isolation and endangered river turtles!

Also, take a look at our field report from our initiative with the Matsés to support bilingual education and intergenerational transfer of ecological knowledge. In this update Dr. David Fleck reports on the development of three new interactive cellular phone apps!

Acaté Amazon Conservation is a non-profit organization based in the United States and Perú that operates in a true and transparent partnership with the Matsés people of the Peruvian Amazon to maintain their self-sufficiency and way of life. The Matsés safeguard a critical conservation corridor and shield some of the last remaining uncontacted tribes in isolation from unwanted encroachment from the outside world. Acaté works to protect their forests and way of life through supporting on-the-ground initiatives that are led by the Matsés indigenous people.

Operating on the frontlines of conservation, Acaté’s initiatives over the past decade have included the first indigenous medicine encyclopedia as well as projects with original methodology in sustainable economic development, traditional medicine, medicinal agroforestry, nutritional diversity, regenerative agriculture, biodiversity inventory, education, native language literacy, participatory mapping, and protection of uncontacted tribal groups in isolation. All of our initiatives are developed with, led and implemented by the Matsés indigenous people. Donations are tax-deductible and go directly to fund these on-the-ground initiatives that operate with unparalleled transparency.

Constructing a diversion channel

Matses fish farm in development

Close-up of a gamitana fry before introduction

Matses women feeding with ant and termite nests

Off to a great start!

Links:

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Apr 19, 2023
April 2023 - Update on Protection of Uncontacted Tribal Groups in Isolation

By Christopher Herndon and William Park | Founders

Isolated peoples crossing the Javari river

Community-based initiative in partnership with Acaté protects uncontacted tribal groups in isolation

To reach the Matsés territory requires either a weeklong boat trip passing through Brazil; a flight on a small plane; or a multi-day walk through the jungle. This inaccessibility and the Matsés fierce reputation have been the major factors protecting this area historically. The Matsés communal territory is the key to a binational area of the Amazon Rainforest that includes the Matsés National Reserve, the Sierra del Divisor National Park, the Yavari Tapiche Indigenous Reserve and the Vale do Javari Reserve in Brazil (alone the size of Austria). Together this region is one of the largest and wildest areas left on our planet and the home of the highest number of people still living in voluntary isolation or uncontacted people. These people are at risk of life-threatening disease should they be contacted by adventure seekers, fanatical missionaries, misguided governmental operatives, or illegal resource extractors. The Matsés have had encounters with the uncontacted in their ancestral hunting grounds and there is the potential for conflict. In southern portions of the Peruvian Amazon there have been deadly conflicts when uncontacted bands raid isolated villages seeking metal tools and food stores. The movement patterns of the uncontacted groups that enter the Matsés Ancestral Territory are unclear but are likely linked to land use changes to the southeast in Brazil and to normal seasonal movements for hunting.

The potential for conflict remains if one of these bands should raid a Matsés camp looking for axes or other metal implements. The Yaquerana River (headwaters of the Javari River) is the international border between Peru and Brazil through part of Matsés territory. As such, it is not legal for the Matsés to close the river to boat traffic from the settler communities downriver in both Peru and Brazil. Poachers take advantage of this to enter the territory for commercial fishing, endangered turtle egg collecting, and timber cutting. The threat of construction of a road from the Ucayali to the Javari makes this work even more urgent. The road will bring a wave of settlers looking for new land to exploit along with the timber mafias who will use the road to exploit previously inaccessible highly valuable timber species like Spanish Cedar and Mahogany.

In early 2021 Acaté was approached by a Matsés youth association based in the Matsés community of Puerto Alegre, the southernmost village on the Yaquerana River and gateway to the remote headwaters. This youth association is called Iscu, the Matsés term for oropendolas, birds that live in large colonies and weave hanging nests; their calls are an emblematic sound of the Amazon. The Iscu association wanted to create a conservation area, protect the people in voluntary isolation through creation of a monitored buffer zone between areas of Matsés inhabitation and areas where there are uncontacted groups living in isolation, and start a conservation program for endangered river turtles. As Acaté is the only NGO that carries out on-the-ground projects in Matsés territory and has a long track record of successful projects, we were the logical partner for this initiative.

Everyone was in agreement that the idea was not to look for or to make any attempt to contact them but to patrol the southern edge of the Matsés Ancestral Territory for outsider incursions into the area, from timber cutters, frontier settlers, hunters, or adventure tourists. The Matsés would take appropriate measures to avoid conflicts with them while shielding them from encroachment.

Creation of an Observation Post and Initiation of Patrols

To realize this project the Iscu members built an observation up-river from the village with support from Acaté. They built two small structures, both on stilts, on the river bank, with local materials. The observation post is on a high point of the river bank and near a straighter section of the river for maximum visibility in both directions. This guard post allows the Matsés to monitor a key area of the Yaquerana as a base of operations for the patrols.

The presence of the post also discourages poachers. Acaté provided a short-wave radio so they could communicate over all the Matsés territory and to the settler community of Angamos if necessary. We also provided them with a motor, flashlights, camera trap, boots, machetes, fuel, vests, and food supplies for the patrols. The Matsés would look for signs of uncontacted such as footprints (barefoot) and for broken stems in the understory. Typically, when younger Matsés or mestizos walk off trail in the forest they cut understory plants to mark a trail for the way back with a machete. An elder Matsés or an uncontacted person would just bend the plants over to mark their trail. The other way that the Matsés have noted the presence of uncontacted peoples in isolation without direct visual contact have been through hearing vocalizations, such as calls for hunting monkeys. Like the Matsés, they mimic the monkey’s vocalizations when hunting, hoping to draw the monkeys close enough for a shot with bow and arrow. The Matsés can tell the difference between a real spider monkey call or whinnie and that of a human mimic.

The patrols consisted of three or four person teams and lasted for one week each. The patrols have also deployed a camera trap near areas with high densities of animals, mineral deposits where peccaries wallow and there are higher densities of animals.

To date, six patrols have been carried out over the two years of the project with support from Acaté. If anyone was able to pass unnoticed upriver they would have to travel by boat. The patrols look for boats on the river banks. Poachers would be wary of being discovered so they would go up a smaller stream and attempt to hide their boat in the vegetation. The patrols being aware of this check the likely areas where a boat might be hidden. To date, no intruders have been found. During one patrol in December 2021, the group found a trail marked by bent over vegetation and found a barefoot print. This is not definitive proof of uncontacted people entering the Matsés territory but is another data point adding to other data points demonstrating the importance of this project. Upon this discovery they withdrew from the area to make sure they did not have an encounter.

Acaté provided the supplies for an expedition to demarcate the area and produce a map. Demarcating the areas away from the river required a weeklong overland trek. The capacity to survey and generate their own maps was previously acquired through the Matsés Indigenous Mapping Initiative in which the Matsés mapped, for the first time, their ancestral territories in Peru. In this landmark initiative supported by Acaté, the Matsés mapped over a period of five years thousands of culturally important mapping points including locations of ancestral longhouses, sites of frontier skirmishes with Peruvian soldiers and areas of ecological importance as well as all of the waterways in their territory were recorded for the first time with their original Matsés names.

The Protection of Isolated Peoples project is a on-the-ground community-based initiative supported by Acaté and is not associated with the Javari-Tapiche Corridor concept that is presently being advanced by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture. The Javari-Tapiche Corridor and other reserves to protect peoples in isolation created by the Peruvian Government have been challenged in regional districts through introduction of legislation backed by extractive industries. The fate of these plans is uncertain. In any eventuality and path forward, the success of these reserves will depend on on-the-ground conservation efforts, such as of those described herein this field report, led by the communities most invested to ensure the integrity of these highly sensitive areas for conservation and to protect the self-determination of isolated groups. In our April 2022 meeting with the Matsés leadership attended by the entire Acaté team we carefully reviewed the work that had been done and laid out the plans and vision for the next steps for the project.

Matses community of Puerto Alegre

Camera Trap

Links:

Acate Amazon Conservation - Donate to Acate

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Oct 24, 2022
October 2022 - Update on Governance Initiative

By Christopher Herndon and William Park | Co-Founders

Ministry of Health using Matses Indigenous Map

In April 2022, Acaté and the Matsés governing board (junta directiva) held an in-depth conference in the city of Iquitos. The conference was attended by all the officers of the Matsés junta. Acaté was represented by our Peruvian and US based team, David Fleck, Christopher Herndon, William Park, and Carla Noain. The Matsés junta was elected in December of 2021 and this was the first opportunity they had to meet as a governing body. Except for the President, who was reelected, the junta members were new and most had never been in leadership positions before. Due to the formalities of the Peruvian government and in general for interinstitutional meetings, we had to send official invitation letters to each agency, some delivered in physical form, and wait for the countersigned acceptance letters. The Matsés delegation flights were delayed several times so we had to reschedule all the myriad of meetings with governmental agencies (Health, Education, Culture and others) three times but after this juggling of schedules we were ready to begin. The objective of the meetings with the various agencies was to provide the leaders an opportunity to understand the programs that each agency provides and to build connections to improve their access to services in the communities. In an extremely bureaucratic country like Peru, that suffers from rampant corruption there are many services available on paper but actually benefiting from the programs requires significant effort and diligent follow through to navigate the barriers to accessing the services, which range from bureaucratic obstacles to lack of available ear-marked funding due to embezzlement at level of national or regional ministries.

The first conference meeting was with the El Programa Nacional. This program focuses on services for the international border areas of Peru that are underserved and, in the case of the Matsés, practically lack government services. The idea is to build government centers that would offer all services from access to the National Bank to healthcare and preschool education. The program has constructed two facilities in Matsés territory but a lot of the functionality has not been added apart from a kitchen that can be used for certain activities and satellite internet connection that can be turned on when they have fuel to run the generator, which is rare according to the Matsés. The Matsés had an opportunity to express their disappointment in the program and to make suggestions that the facility be turned over to members from the community. This was agreed to and the Matsés leaders now have all the contacts for the program directors in Lima who have published on-line their intention to bring the promised services to the Matsés. We will monitor this situation along with the Matsés leaders.

The next meeting was Asuntos Indígenas or the Native Affairs agency of the State of Loreto. Acaté had partnered with them for the evacuation and care of the Matses stranded in Iquitos at the start of the pandemic. They are aware of Acaté’s numerous successful projects with the Matses and wanted to assess the ability of the communities to carry out a sustainable economic project and in order to present a project for consideration they needed a lot of demographic data from the Matses. After breaking up into subgroups and much discussion it was decided that a program to sell banana flour in Iquitos would be the proposal that Asuntos Indígenas would submit. It usually takes about a year or more for this type of project to materialize so the admins believe it will start in early 2023 and employ over 100 Matsés.

El Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado – Sernanp was the next session. This was a very controversial meeting as the Matses National Reserve administered by SERNANP occupies much of the Matses Ancestral Territory. The long and sad story of the Matses losing their ancestral land is beyond the scope of this report and was discussed in June 2017 Field Report. Although the formation of the so-called Matsés National Reserve had been touted at the time by involved large international conservation organizations and Peruvian government as bringing job opportunities for the Matsés. The Matsés were told that there would be a specified number of jobs as park rangers to patrol and protect the Reserve. The reality, over a decade, is that the majority of park rangers (70% at the time of our meeting) are non-Matsés hired from local settlements outside of the Matsés communities. The Park Directors prefer to only work with the villages in the buffer zone that the government imposed on the Matsés. It was agreed as a result of the meeting that the National Park would Matsés would hire more Matsés. We are pleased to report that, as of writing the number of Matsés hired as park rangers for the Reserve has now more than doubled.

The next part of the meeting focused on the major lack of communication and consultation with the Matsés leadership, which again was not what the proposed operating model with the National Park was formed. The Matsés leaders in attendance emphasized the importance of communication and consultation and an understanding was reached that this would be improved. In a follow up meeting in June the Matses leaders came back to Iquitos to negotiate a new Master Plan for the National Reserve on terms more favorable to the Matses especially with regards to new employment opportunities and prior consultation.

Last year, there was a tragic incident where a SERNANP speedboat struck at high velocity a Matsés canoe killing three Matsés. The families were not able to obtain relief, with many barriers and delays due to the complexities and requirements of the SERNANP insurance policy and the fillings required. This understandably is a point of major sensitivity and importance to the affected families as the Matsés communities at large. The Park Director informed the Matsés how to proceed in order to provide the SERNANP officials in Lima the papers required by their liability insurance to compensate the families of the deceased.

The next session was with the Department of Education. The representative they sent had visited the Matsés communities and knew some of the participants. It is well known that the Education Department is underfunded so the Matsés were appreciative that a large new school had just been completed in their largest village. The discussion turned to the issue of absentee teachers. These teachers give up half their salaries to corrupt administrators in return for being excused from work. Complaining to the corrupt administrators would not be effective but higher up the chain of command there are ombudsman who have to send carbon copies of official complaints to all the offices. They reviewed the procedure to remove these absent teachers and also how the parents associations can help to improve educational outcomes.

Defensoría del Pueblo is an independent agency of the government created by congress whose findings can not be overruled by any other agency of the state. Their function is to fight corruption and injustice. The lawyer who came to the meeting as their representative became wide-eyed as he heard about the total lack of services the Matses population receives from the District Government. It turned out the Matsés had previously tried to use Defensoría del Pueblo to fight corruption without any results due to a series of Catch 22s. You need documents from the corrupt government to file against them but the government won’t give anyone the required papers. The Matses feel that this agency is more bark than bite but were glad to have an update on the activities and possibilities from this agency.

The final agency was the Ministry of Health (MINSA). Acaté has a Memorandum of Understanding with them and we frequently help coordinate medical evacuations and pay for shortfalls in care, for which in absence of direct grant support with our own funding. The health care system does not really exist in Matsés territory but has an outpost in one village. MINSA apparently believed that this post, as limited as it is, served three of the largest Matses villages. We showed the map of Matsés territory so she could see that the villages are hours apart in the best circumstances and that it would be practically impossible to transport patients from one to the other. We agreed that the most remote Matsés villages need their own clinics and that more medicines were needed to stock the existing outpost. This is a very positive outcome for the Matsés but will require a multiagency funding.

The Ministry of Transportation and OSINFOR, the environmental police, both declined to participate in the program.

In addition to agencies of the Peruvian state we also wanted to coordinate with any other NGOs that might have programs to benefit the Matses. Unfortunately, although there are many that apparently work in the region, few have any presence in the region. CEDIA, who helped the Matses with their land title years ago in creation of the Matsés Communal Reserve, came to the conference but are focused solely on Land Titling at this point. Formabiop also came to the meeting and they specialize in training bilingual teachers for native communities. The Matses leaders showed a lot of interest in this program as there is a lack of properly trained teachers who speak Matsés. They signed the necessary papers so that Formabiop can seek funding to set up a training program for future Matsés teachers. Formabiop does excellent work but struggles with their own funding.

The conference also provided an opportunity to work with the new Matsés leaders and present them with the 10 year history of Acate’s activities with the Matses and answer any questions. We then went on to discuss our current projects with the leaders and present work plans and budgets. Then we discussed the types of projects that we could do in the coming years and got a sense of their priorities. It was apparent that they all had hopes for a carbon project that would be able to fund multiple different projects and we agreed that we would try to find a reputable partner.

The last session of the conference was dedicated to the community bylaws and the Life Plans as well as the roles of each member of the leadership council. We also had an opportunity to go over some general leadership principles and traits and the dynamics created through good versus poor leadership.

Last, but not least, we are proud to announce that we have partnered with Matsés youth to revitalize the long defunct and inactive Matsés Youth Organization, restoring full its legal incorporation and standing, which is an involved process. The Matsés leaders and communities are presently working to enhance organization ByLaws, vision, and select members from all the Matsés communities. It is difficult to convey the excitement and support of the Matsés younger generations for the Matsés Youth Organization to become engaged as emerging leaders in their communities and effect positive change. More on this important development in future reporting.

Links:

http://www.acateamazon.org

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