Surui Tribe Launches Carbon Fund

As I return from the United Nations Climate Conference (COP16), I'm happy to share that there is some good news coming out of Cancún despite all the media headlines of stalled conversations. ACT is working on very concrete projects that will have a direct impact on the implementation of policies regarding the reduction of carbon emissions in the rainforests of South America.

ACT has taken the lead in creating coalitions of NGOs and indigenous peoples to design and implement effective land management solutions, and now is working with its partners to ensure that these solutions can be applied broadly - both on the ground, and also to positively impact the policy negotiations and implementation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and REDD+. ACT is an integral part of the discussions surrounding the design of these methods where the results generated on the ground will help to shape how these solutions can potentially be implemented on an international scale.

I joined Chief Almir of the Surui Tribe in Brazil at COP16 in his announcement of the launch of the Surui Carbon Fund. The Fund-created by the Surui with help from the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund (FUNBIO)-will enable the indigenous community to manage the funds derived from the marketing of their carbon credits. The Surui will be responsible for fund financial management as well as implementation of their self-created management plan for their 600,000-acre reserve in Rondônia, Brazil.

The Surui Carbon Project is an initiative led by the Surui and involves expert NGOs including Kanindé, Forest Trends, FUNBIO, and the Institute for Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Amazon. The project uses two forms of carbon offset: avoided deforestation and conservation through carbon stocks, as measured through the REDD mechanism; and carbon sequestration through reforestation. The impact of the project will go far beyond the Surui and will bring new alternatives in the management of indigenous lands to other indigenous groups worldwide. 

Vasco van Roosmalen

Director, Amazon Conservation Team Brazil

Beyond A Reasonable Doubt: The Amazon In Colombia

The Colombian Amazon represents one of the world’s most important—and most often overlooked—rainforest regions. While most folks associate the Amazon with Brazil—rightfully so, considering that over 60% of the Amazon forests lies within Brazil’s borders—the size and diversity of Colombia’s corner of Amazonia are staggering. How many people realize that the Colombian Amazon is twice the size of New England? Or that the biodiversity in western Amazonia is much greater than that found in the rest of the Basin? Or that indigenous peoples—thanks to farsighted Colombian government policies enacted by conservation leaders —manage enormous tracts of these forests?

Much of the news regarding Colombia that appears in the western press is unremittingly negative. And the forces of environmental devastation that beset much of the rest of the world; deforestation for industrial agriculture, destructive extractive activities, and the migration of the impoverished—exist in Colombia as well.  Nonetheless, there are ample reasons for hope and optimism regarding the Colombian forests that one seldom reads about in the English-speaking world.


So, when we think about the Amazon, we must extend our visions beyond the borders of Brazil. Brazil certainly plays a key role in the fate of the forest - but there are eight other Amazonian countries. How many of us think of Colombia as a land of hope and good news? It may seem surprising that this will prove to be the case in Colombia, but remember: this is the country that invented magical realism.....