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The Amazon and the Center
The Amazon region of South America is home to the world's largest river, tropical forest, and concentration of plant and animal species. Appreciation for this area's ecology and diverse human societies is growing, but the extent of Amazon forest burning and degradation is still very high. The causes and effects of Amazon deforestation are found both in and outside the region. Addressing these problems will, therefore, require inspiration and creative action by people in the Amazon and beyond. The mission of the Center for Amazon Community Ecology is to promote the understanding, conservation and sustainable development of human and other biological communities in the Amazon region. Our three strategies are research, community support and education. One of our main goals is to study the ecology and develop the sustainable harvest and marketing of non-timber forest products such as fruits, fibers, resins, and oils. We also work with indigenous and other forest peoples to sustain local resources and support their communities. See More CACE Copal project – a fragrant path to forest conservation  
Amazon people often collect resin from copal trees to caulk their canoes and burn it for light and its pleasant aroma. The Center is studying the sustainable harvest of this resin and exploring its fascinating connections with weevils that form it and bees that harvest it. Last year we began to cooperate with faculty and students from Penn State University and with indigenous people on the Ampiyacu River to develop value-added products from copal that forest-based communities could make and sell as a source of sustainable income. These products include incense, scented candles and essential oil that could be used in perfumes and other fragrant products.
See More Download this issue 
- Copal and handicraft projects progress in Peru: Updates on Center's research on the ecology, harvest, and marketing of copal resin and handicrafts and new partnerships with indigenous associations and mestizo communities The Last Forest: the Amazon in the Age of Globalization: Review of Brian Kelly and Mark London's newest book about challenges and opportunities in the Amazon. - Connections Profiles: Dr. Rick Schuhmann - a dynamic Penn State Univ. Engineering professor whose students are linking up with Center projects and film student Greg Harriott who spent six weeks shooting video of Center projects in Peru - Amazon Connections to Climate Change: Forest ecologist Dan Nepstad discusses how Amazon forest burning affects the global climate and how global warming is changing the Amazon - Report from the Field: : Campbell Plowden reports on a special kind of copal resin used by Bora Indians that's made from yellow latex of a rainforest tree attacked by an unknown long-horned beetle See previous issues of Amazon Connections or subscribe to the newsletter Volunteers making a difference    |
Reports from the Field
Amazon videos on the web
Two Center interns have produced short videos that present the lives of the people in Jenaro Herrera - the Ucayali River town in Peru where the Center began its copal research and handicraft marketing project. Introduction to Jenaro Herrera by Greg Harriott shows how the people of this small Amazon river town use various forest resources and make buffalo milk cheese to support their livelihoods. Handicrafts of the Peruvian Amazon by Matt Hunter focuses on the way that local artisans use palm leaves, seeds and fruit dyes to create a variety of beautiful handicrafts. The Center is helping to sell some of these to support artisan families and their communities.
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