Anyone who has walked a trail in the Amazon is aware of a very subtle, steady, quiet descent of dead leaves and other plant materials from the canopy above. This material covers the soil of the forest floor. Natural mulch! However, you can easily employ mulching in your own garden. Mulching cannot be overrated. By … Read more
The soils in Amazonia are so notoriously poor in nutrients, that plants have evolved diverse ways of capturing nutrients from dead leaves, stems, bark, fallen fruit and more. So successful are these plants in recycling nutrients that the vast majority of the nutrients in the rainforest are found in the forest biomass, not in the … Read more
Birding in the Amazon is just a wonderful activity! It became one of my favorite activities when I had the opportunity to participate in a bird’s inventory in the Peruvian Amazon, as a field research assistant. I was amazed by the incredible diversity of birds we saw every morning in every study site. I could … Read more
by Vítor da Silva Our canoe hits the embankment of the river, and the 69-year old Maijuna elder, Agapo, pushes me up into the forest as he balances barefoot on his canoe. The forest is thick and there is no path anywhere around me. I wait for Agapo to tie his canoe, and with the … Read more
By Lindsay Schmittle, Gingerly Press My experience on the 2022 ACEER Artist Residency along the Sucusari River Basin deep in the Amazon Rainforest of Peru was definitely not your average artist residency experience. While this was my first true artist residency, I know that in most residencies, artists tend to spend the majority of their … Read more
Translated by Carolyn Keller and Brian Griffiths Is there a light more profound than that which illuminates the soul? I could see it in their looks, in the string of smiles from the conversations that brought us together in the wonder of knowing a world where the wildlife has free rein and is constantly transforming … Read more
Click through Slideshow Experiencing the Amazon rainforest was always something that I looked forward to. It was never a matter of if I would pursue research in the Amazon, but rather when I would begin. A frontier of biological diversity, the Amazon has excited me since I was young, and knowledge of its destruction set … Read more
The first time I visited Madre de Dios, Peru, was in 2010. I took a boat up the Tambopata River, and saw that the water was laced with golden glitter dust. It felt like I was dreaming, being surrounded by a lush green jungle, blue skies, while floating on a river of gold. I fell … Read more
In a world fundamentally altered, and existentially threatened by climate change, it would benefit all of us to become far more adept at the art of care and careful attention – so that we stop creating problems we don’t know how to fix.
The seasonal loss of leaves by deciduous trees and their subsequent dormancy during the winter in northern latitudes is not a scenario that is typically played out in the lowland Amazon rainforest. Stable, warm temperatures and abundant rainfall lead to most trees in the rainforest being evergreens. That doesn’t mean they don’t lose their leaves, … Read more
A jaguar is on the prowl on the outskirts of a local community deep in the Amazon rainforest. Its roars can be heard in the dead of night; its tracks surround the edges of the village. To some Indigenous communities, this may be a sign that a shaman from a rival village has transformed himself … Read more
In Amazonia, native people have relied on the healing properties of medicinal plants for millenia.
How a Paper Microscope is Paving the Way for Students, Teachers and Conservation One a cool Sunday in October of 2020, I did not rush inside to go watch any of the football games on my living room TV. I was so engaged with looking at the wings of a Spotted Lantern Fly for one … Read more
En estos últimos 10 años estuve viajando por diferentes afluentes de la Amazonía Peruana en Madre de Dios. En uno de estos viajes tuve la oportunidad de conocer el río Malinowski, un lugar donde los mineros de oro estaban destruyendo la belleza de esta selva y todo lo que estaba a la vista. Donde antes … Read more
It was late 2014 and I was back in the Netherlands after a life-changing trip to Suriname. Being home was surprisingly challenging; I felt out of place back in a classroom and back in Dutch society. My mind and body were aching to return to the wilderness as soon as possible. But how was I … Read more
The Blue Morpho butterfly is an unforgettable sight for anyone who has been able to witness it flying through its natural habitat of the Amazon rainforest. The Blue Morpho certainly is a species that carries with it the true essence of the Amazon: beauty found in the heart of wildlife and a natural coexistence maintaining … Read more
The morning light is dimmed by the rainforest canopy as I scramble up the bank of the Sucusari River from our wooden boat. The rustling of my steps startles a collared peccary and her young – they bolt through the understory. Victorino, a Maijuna guide, deftly scales the bank and expertly tracks their flight below rustling … Read more
The ACEER Foundation kicked off its Delaware Teachers Institute Summit at the Stroud Water Research Center in Avondale, Pennsylvania under the sweltering heat and stifling humidity of midsummer. The heat and humidity simulated the conditions that the teachers will experience while in the Peruvian Amazon next summer. The summit ran from June 28th to June … Read more
