Amazon Conservation Association

Overview

The Amazon Conservation Association is a non-profit organization legally incorporated in the United States, Peru and Bolivia. The directors and staff are experienced tropical ecologists and conservationists. Our goal is to conserve biodiversity through development of new scientific understanding, sustainable resource management and rational land-use policy for Amazonian ecosystems.

Mission

The mission of the Amazon Conservation Association is to conserve the biological diversity of the Amazon Basin.

The Amazon Conservation Association envisions a network of state, community, and private lands managed for conservation and sustainable resource use so that the biological diversity of the southwest Amazon basin is conserved.

We strive to establish partnerships with governments, local communities and other conservation organizations to develop innovative conservation tools that will expand the amount of protected land in the region. Our actions are informed by scientific research and designed to achieve concrete and measurable outcomes. We are committed to concentrating our resources and capabilities in the field, where they have the largest conservation impact. We believe that longterm conservation is best ensured by active and informed participation of local stakeholders, and we collaborate with forest users who seek to improve their resource management practices.

Program

Biodiversity Assessment and Monitoring

Biodiversity assessments provide critical baseline information that helps us understand ecosystem structure and guide conservation strategy. Comparisons of pristine and anthropogenically affected habitats lend insight for conservation planning that minimizes destructive impacts. Ongoing monitoring yields a measure of conservation success and provides long-term data on ecosystem health and dynamics.

Non-timber Forest Product Research

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) provide sustainable alternatives to deforestation and cattle production. These are an important source of livelihood, cash income, medicine, food and fiber for local people. Although the Amazon region is rich in NTFPs, their viability is limited by a lack of research into basic harvesting and marketing techniques and development of government policy.

Brazil Nut Program

Brazil nuts, our initial and oldest program, has been looking at Brazil nut policy and management issues. Brazil nuts are the most profitable NTFP in the southwestern Amazon, providing income for local people and incentives for forest conservation. Brazil nut trees cover more than 10 million acres of Amazonian Peru and greater areas in Bolivia and Brazil. Conserving this forest through Brazil nut concessions is a key element in maintaining the biological connections between protected areas.

Fisheries and Aquatic Ecology

Amazonian rivers, forests, and peoples are dependent upon healthy fisheries. We have embarked on a vigorous fisheries ecology program focused on two general themes - first, the role of the Andean foothills in providing spawning habitat for migratory species and second, the role of habitat diversity in maintaining aquatic biodiversity.

Community Development and Environmental Health

The support and well being of local communities is critical for conservation success. We are conducting a community development project targeted on children's health and related environmental contamination and ecosystem degradation problems in Amazonian Peru.

Field Research and Training Grants

Our grants program gives researchers the resources they need to carry out pressing field work in tropical forests. The program provides young Peruvian biologists with opportunities for independent research and brings researchers from around the world to work at our Los Amigos field Station.

ANIA and A Children's Land

ACA has joined ANIA, the Association for Children and their Environment in its efforts to develop values and practices of social and environmental responsibility in children. ANIA, a nonprofit organization founded in Lima, Peru in 1995, works under the leadership of Joaquin Leguia, Executive Director.

Impact

Through work with local partners, the Amazon Conservation Association has protected hundreds of thousands of acres of Amazonian rainforest in Peru and Bolivia. ACA has developed and implemented successful programs to develop biological research stations and to provide alternative means of income for families who are reliant upon the forest for their income.

Chief Executive

Cesar Moran-Cahusac

Chief Executive Profile

Cesar Moran-Cahusac, ACA's Executive Director, was born in Lima, Peru and received a master's degree in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry. He has worked in a vast array of conservation projects. At the Agrarian University of Lima - La Molina where he studied animal sciences, he developed a "hands on" environmental educational program based on organic gardening for school children in Lima. Later on, he worked for a period of seven years as the Project Coordinator for the Machu Picchu Program, a debt for nature swap between the countries of Finland and Peru which supported this park in environmental issues.

Board

Adrian Forsyth, President and co-founder of ACA, has a Harvard PhD in tropical ecology and 30 years of conservation experience in the region. He is currently VP for Progam at the Blue Moon Fund, and research associate at the Smithsonian Institution.

Enrique Ortiz is Vice President and ACA co-founder. Enrique is one of Peru's most respected conservationists, having established one of the first environmental groups in Peru (APECO). Enrique is currently Senior Program Officer for Environment for the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation.

Sarah duPont, is working on several projects related to global warming, the protection of biodiversity and to promoting awareness of the Amazon.

Elizabeth Losos, is the President and CEO of the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), an international consortium of universities, colleges, and research institutions with the mission of promoting leadership in research, education, and the responsible use of natural resources in the tropics.

John Tobin de la Puente, Secretary-Treasurer of ACA, was raised in Lima, Peru. After graduating with a degree in biology from UCLA he moved to Harvard to do his doctoral work with E.O. Wilson.

Dorothy Batten, is director of Landmark Communications, Inc., a company which operates the Weather Channel and other media and information businesses.

Jessica Nagle, co-founder of SNL Financial LC, the premier provider of sector-specific information in the financial information marketplace.

Countries of Operation

Bolivia, Peru, United States

States of Operation

District of Columbia