Defending the Amazon: How indigenous culture protects Colombia's rainforest

Feb 10, 2022

Trees and foliage in the Amazon rainforest.

In nearly every Latin American country, indigenous lands showed lower deforestation rates than other forest areas, found a 2021 UN report. Image: Pixabay/rosinakaiser

Anastasia Moloney

Latin America and Caribbean Correspondent, Thomson Reuters Foundation

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Woman in red top carrying a basket with the strap around her head.

Norma Souza Matapi collecting crops at her family food plot in the Bella Vista riverside community, Colombia, in December, 2021. Image: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Fabio Cuttica

Celestino Yucuna, 'captain' of the Bella Vista riverside community, Colombia. Image: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Fabio Cuttica

A man sat on a wooden bench, preparing powdered coca leaves.

An indigenous man prepares powdered coca leaves used in the age-old mambe ritual, Puerto Libre riverside community, Colombia. Image: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Fabio Cuttica

Women sat around a basket filled cassava, and peeling it.

Women preparing cassava, a staple food crop of Amazon indigenous groups, in a riverside community of Colombia. Image: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Fabio Cuttica

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