We partner with Indigenous communities to advance sustainable, community-led livelihoods rooted in forest stewardship, cultural knowledge, and local priorities.

By supporting initiatives based on forest products and ecosystem services, we help strengthen conservation, economic resilience, and cultural continuity.

Aguaje Palm Fruit Project

The aguaje palm (Mauritia flexuosa) is a culturally, economically, and ecologically vital species across the Amazon. Its fruits provide an important source of nutrition and income for communities, while also sustaining a wide range of wildlife, including tapirs, monkeys, peccaries, and macaws, making aguaje a keystone species in flooded forest ecosystems.

Across much of the Peruvian Amazon, however, unsustainable harvest practices have led to widespread degradation of aguaje swamps. We work in partnership with communities to support sustainable, community-led management strategies that allow households to benefit economically while protecting long-term ecological health. Together, we are advancing techniques such as tree-climbing harvest methods and cultivation of aguaje palms in agricultural fields and home gardens, reducing pressure on wild populations. This work is carried out in collaboration with researchers from Oregon State University, George Mason University, and the Institute for Conservation Research at the San Diego Zoo.

Stingless Beekeeping Project

Amazonian stingless bees produce a distinctive honey prized for its unique flavor and medicinal qualities, with strong regional demand and premium market value. We partner with Indigenous communities to support community-led stingless beekeeping initiatives that strengthen livelihoods while reinforcing forest stewardship.

Along with community partners and Asociación La Restinga, we support training, hive management, and local enterprise development. In collaboration with the Maijuna people, this work has helped establish more than 120 stingless beehives across three communities, with continued expansion underway, advancing sustainable income generation grounded in ecological care.

Ecotourism Project

Photo: Brian Griffiths

We collaborate with the Maijuna people to develop community-led, education-based ecotourism that supports conservation, cultural exchange, and sustainable livelihoods. Through hands-on learning experiences centered on traditional knowledge and environmental stewardship, visitors engage in projects such as stingless beekeeping, wildlife conservation, sustainable palm harvesting, and traditional crafts.

These initiatives generate locally grounded income, strengthen cultural continuity, and foster meaningful cross-cultural learning, in collaboration with Amazon Explorama Lodges, Amazon Rainforest Workshops, The Morpho Institute, and George Mason University.

Handicraft Project

Photo: Wilfredo Martinez

Indigenous artisans continue to sustain vibrant weaving traditions rooted in deep ecological knowledge of the chambira palm (Astrocaryum chambira). Our role is to support community-driven artisan enterprises by strengthening market access and collaborative partnerships.

Working alongside Maijuna artisans, Amazon Explorama Lodges, and the Center for Amazon Community Ecology, we support cross-border markets that advance cultural continuity and economic resilience.