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

Feb 10, 2022

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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