"Successful Champion of Local Culture and Environment in the Amazon"
Clark
Environmentalist
UK – Italy – Xixuaú Brazilian Amazon
NMP#  13.C.1
http://www.amazoniabr.org/en/

Christopher Julian Clark was born in Scotland and was in the Amazon for the first time in 1984, going back many times until he established himself in Xixuaú. He is one of the founders of Associação Amazônia, of which he is the Secretary.

The Amazônia Association is a non-profit organisation working for the conservation of the Amazon rainforest and the defence of local traditional culture.

AA was established in 1992 by the inhabitants of the Rio Jauaperi, on the border between the states of Roraima and Amazonas, with the aim of improving both their quality of life and their capacity of managing and protecting the rainforest. The region is home to around 500 people in eight communities. Made up on the local people, the Association works to address the threats of deforestation and environmental degradation, while offering sustainable economic alternatives.

To that end, the Association has built schools and an IT centre, artesian wells and community gardens. It has installed solar energy and improved market access by river for local products. Training has included in agriculture, for environmental monitoring agents, for microscope technicians (to diagnose malaria) and nursing. A campaign against malaria has reduced its incidence by 95%.

The Association has created new economic opportunities for the men and women of the Rio Jauaperi, such as local crafts, production of non-timber forest products, community ecotourism and support to scientific research, all managed by a local cooperative enterprise. The presence of these activities works as a magnet for local people, reversing the trend of emigration from rural areas to city slums.

The objectives of the Amazônia Association are:

  • Conservation of biodiversity;
  • Conservation of cultural diversity;
  • Promotion of sustainable development in the Amazon.

 The Amazônia Association directly addresses the threats of deforestation and environmental degradation, while improving its members' quality of life and ensuring that they have real alternatives for sustainable economic development.

Emanuela Evangelista, who supports Chris is a biologist and member of SSC/IUCN (Species Survival Commision/ International Union for Conservation of Nature), coordinates research and conservation projects for Associação Amazônia. She is President of Associação Amazônia Onlus, in Italy. 

The area of the reserve has been protected for the last eleven years and a marked increase in the quantity of wildlife is noticeable. The Xixuau-Xiparina is home to many species of animals endangered in other parts of the Amazon which are now commonly sighted inside the reserve. To the north is the Waimiri-Atroari Indian reserve. An area of 2.2 million hectares protected by the Indians themselves. Over recent years there had been a marked increase in the number of commercial fishing boats coming to the Jauaperi from Manaus and the local inhabitants noticed their fish stocks were dwindling. An agreement with a number of communities and with the Waimiri lead to the active discouraging of these fishermen and the area of the Jauaperi from Samauma to the north has returned to a natural state with extremely abundant fish stocks. At the same time efforts have been made to raise the ecological awareness of the people and projects have started whereby the communities receive financial assistance in exchange for conserving areas of forest belonging to them.

Various foundations, public bodies and national and international companies support the Amazônia Association's model for development and conservation.

It is recognised by the local government and federal agencies (Rorainopolis Municipality, Ministry of Environment and IBAMA – the environmental enforcement agency).

The Association is part of the Rio Negro Network, which brings together NGOs working on social and environmental issues across the Rio Negro riverbasin. The Network includes local organisations such as the Social-Environmental Institute (Instituto Socioambiental, ISA), The Vitoria Amazonica Foundation (Fundação Vitória Amazônica, FVA), the Institute of Ecological Research (Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas, IPÊ) and WWF-Brazil.

Our project partners have included Embrapa from the state of Roraima, the Brazilian National Amazon Research Institute (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisa da Amazônia, INPA), the National Health Foundation (Fundação Nacional de Saúde), the universities of Rome, Milan and Siena (in Italy), the Italy-Latin America Institute of Rome and the University of Copenhagen (Denmark). We are currently collaborating with INPA, the Royal Botanical Garden Kew (London) and the Tridentino Museum of Natural Science (Trento, Italy).

Today, AA's major supporters are:

Furthermore, those who have supported us include:

The information contained herein is mostly derived from the AA official website and the photos and images are from their sources..

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