Nature and Culture, in collaboration with Indigenous and local communities, are working on creating the El Pitayal State Reserve, in southern Sonora, northwest of Mexico. With this they seek to protect the highest density of the pitaya cactus in the world. The pitaya cactus (Stenocereus thurberi) endemic to North America is threatened by extensive agricultural clearings, which has put it at risk of disappearing.
A new protected area secured in Bolivia
Miguel Ayala Mata, Mexico Director of Nature and Culture International speaks on this unique ecosystem, of approximately 50 thousand hectares located in the municipalities of Huatabampo, Navojoa, and Álamos, a source of life for local communities and an important and attractive tourist destination.
Researchers have described five new species of snail-eating snakes
Leonardo DiCaprio has named a newly-discovered species of snake after his favorite woman.
A new snake species found in the jungles of Central and South America has a special connection to a Hollywood star.
The Tarímiat Pujutaí Nuṉka Reserve covers 3,057,671 acres of Andean and Amazonian forests in the Morona Santiago province
You walk into a dimly lit bar. There’s a lion at one end and a jaguar at the other. Who do you buy a drink for?
Hope for the Amazon: Part 2, The Science Business Model of Nature and Culture International
Indigenous peoples in Ecuador are winning a decades-long battle to protect rainforest
Trotsky Riera, Project Coordinator for Ecuador at Nature and Culture International speaks on the Indigenous Peoples of Tiwi Nunka.
Podcast: How the Indigenous Shuar regained their ancestral forest
A conversation with Felipe Serrano, Nature and Culture’s Ecuador Country Director
How to protect tropical forests? Let Indigenous people lead
Opinion piece from Matthew Clark, president and CEO of Nature and Culture International
How to protect tropical forests? Let Indigenous people lead
Opinion piece from Matthew Clark, President, and CEO of Nature and Culture International
Community-Led Conservation Creates Sustainable Super Fruit Market in the Amazon
A conservation group helped bring an Amazonian super fruit to market with sustainable practices—and it started with a map.
Ecuador leading the way in working alongside Indigenous groups to protect sacred rainforest
In an unprecedented show of solidarity, communities in the Amazon, NGOs and local governments are teaming up to protect Ecuador’s rainforest.
Indigenous Shuar community in Ecuador wins decades-long battle to protect land
Ecuador’s National System of Protected Areas now includes the 5,497-hectare (13,583-acre) ancestral Tiwi Nunka Forest, which the Shuar Indigenous community of El Kiim lives in and relies on for sustenance and many cultural practices.
Ecuador’s Pastaza province, Indigenous groups collaborate on forest conservation
For the first time in Ecuador, Pastaza’s provincial government is working with Indigenous communities to create the province’s development and territorial management plan together with Nature and Culture International.
Jaime Toro Guajala, Nature & Culture Coordinator for Pastaza Province and Felipe Serrano, Country Director of Ecuador were interviewed for this article.
Ecuadoran water fund transforms consumers into conservationists
Supported by Nature and Culture, the Regional Water Fund of Southern Ecuador (FORAGUA) operates in 14 municipalities, serving 500,000 residents, and has restored 3,700 acres of land and put an additional 833,000 acres under conservation.
Solana Beach Eco Rotary Club holding virtual meetings
Matt Clark, president and CEO of nonprofit Nature and Culture International, discussed the conservation work his group does in Latin America.
Local nonprofit helps to save ecosystems in Bolivia
“With the addition of Ñembi Guasu, 15 million acres of the Gran Chaco’s most cultural and biologically diverse forests are now protected.”
Renzo Paladines, Nature & Culture Executive Director of Latin America
Corridor for cats: Conservationists work to keep jaguar populations genetically viable
“If you want to protect your jaguar population in Arizona, whether it’s one, two or three jaguars, you have to work with Mexico. And that’s reality.”
Lydia Lozano, Nature & Culture Mexico Country Director
Ñembi Guasu: Huge new conservation area in Bolivia’s Gran Chaco
“We have always been conservationists of natural resources and we want to maintain the territory for future generations. We see that, little by little, people come to work on these lands, so we need to conserve these reserves.”
Rubén Ortiz, Representative of the Ñembi Guasu Conservation Area
Local environmental nonprofit featured in documentary series
“We all depend on nature for things we need – clean water, clean air. I could generate a list of 50 things. The thing I find very salient for a San Diego audience who might think Latin America is a long ways away is that the Amazon forest is big enough that it actually impacts our weather in the United States; it impacts our climate.”
Matt Clark, Nature & Culture President and CEO
Del Mar nonprofit appears in award-winning PBS series
“After watching the show, I hope people visit our website to learn more about what we are doing and how they can help. And if they aren’t already, I hope they get involved in conservation and climate change mitigation in their own backyards as well.”
Matt Clark, Nature & Culture President and CEO
Peru: Marañon dry forests protected as a regional conservation area
“It is a small area, but one of the richest of the world.”
Iván Mejía, Nature & Culture’s Coordinator for the Amazonas and Cajamarca areas
Ecuador announces a new national park in the Andes
“Due to efforts by local communities, researchers, Nature and Culture, the Andes Amazon Fund, and the Ecuadorian government – particularly the Ministry of the Environment – Río Negro-Sopladora National Park has received the highest conservation category status in the country.”
Valeria Sorgato, Reporter
New Parks: Peru, Ecuador Safeguard Pristine Rainforest
“As Amazonians we are pleased to lead these important and necessary conservation processes.”
Franklin Puente, Governor of the province of Morona Santiago
Nature and Culture Helps Ecuador Establish a 6.3-million-acre Conservation Corridor in Amazon Rainforest
“The creation of the Pastaza reserve is a global example of what local and provincial governments working together with indigenous communities can do to protect vital natural resources while ensuring their own long-terms sustainable development and livelihoods.”
Renzo Paladines, Nature & Culture’s Executive Director of Latin America
New Indigenous Reserve Aims To Save A Fading Culture
“The result—an astounding new protected area that is 22% bigger than Yosemite National Park—is one of a growing catalog of South American indigenous reserves that aim to conserve the environment, as well as cultural identity.”
Silvia Usuriaga, Nature & Culture’s Senior Program Manager
For Peruvians, Baskets for the U.S. Market Bring a New Way of Life
“We are part of nature. When we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves.”
Ivan Vásquez, President of Loreto Region
Del Mar Organization is Creating Big Change for World’s Ecosystems
“To actually go in the field and see the environmental battlefront…and see Nature & Culture working right there, trying to turn the tide and preserve it, is incredible.”
Dwight Worden, Del Mar City Councilman
Despair Fuels Developer’s Conservation Dream
“I just respect so deeply someone who says ‘I am going to make this happen.’ And then has the passion and perseverance to make it happen.”
Allison Alberts, Ph.D., San Diego Zoo Global Chief Conservation and Research Officer
