Forest Voices: Community-Led Biodiversity Documentation

Executive Summary

Forest Voices: Community-Led Biodiversity Documentation is a conservation and education initiative developed by Amazonas Conservation Initiative (ACI) in partnership with Awajún communities of northern Peru.

The project documents wildlife and culturally important plants on Awajún ancestral land using motion-activated field cameras and plant photography. These images are then paired with community-led storytelling, recorded on video in the Awajún language, and translated into Spanish and English.

The result is a growing, community-owned archive of biodiversity knowledge that supports wildlife conservation, traditional ecological knowledge, Indigenous language use, youth engagement, and international education.

This project places Awajún voices at the center of biodiversity documentation, ensuring that the people who live with the forest explain it to the world in their own words.

Who

Primary Partners

• Awajún community members, including elders, hunters, farmers, healers, and youth
• Local coordinators selected by the community
• Awajún knowledge holders with direct experience of forest species

Project Lead

Amazonas Conservation Initiative (ACI), a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting conservation, education, and Indigenous-led initiatives in the Amazon region of Peru

Supporters

• Private donors
• Conservation-focused individuals and families
• Institutions interested in biodiversity, Indigenous knowledge, and education
• Universities, museums, and educational organizations (content users)

What

The Core Activity

The project combines three elements:

1. Biodiversity imaging (animals and plants)
2. Traditional knowledge narration (Awajún language first)
3. Translation for wider audiences (Spanish and English)

What Is Produced

• Photos and videos of wildlife captured by motion-activated field cameras
• Photographs of medicinal, food, and culturally significant plants
• Short videos of Awajún community members explaining:
  • animal behavior,
  • plant uses,
  • seasonal patterns,
  • cultural meanings,
  • stories and teachings
• Subtitled versions of each video in Spanish and English
• A digital archive accessible to the community and selected external audiences

This is not a research extraction project. Knowledge is presented by Awajún people, not interpreted by outsiders.

Where

• Awajún ancestral territory in the region surrounding Santa María de Nieva
• Forests, rivers, trails, and community-identified sites
• All camera placement and plant documentation locations are chosen by the community

Why This Project Matters

Biodiversity Importance

• High mammal, bird, reptile, and plant diversity
• Species rarely documented visually
• Landscapes under increasing pressure from external development

Cultural Importance

• Awajún knowledge of animals and plants is deeply detailed
• Knowledge is transmitted orally and through lived practice
• Knowledge is at risk of loss as elders age and youth shift toward Spanish-dominant digital media

Strategic Importance

• Documents biodiversity with cultural context
• Reinforces Awajún authority over their land and knowledge
• Uses modern tools without undermining tradition
• Avoids political or educational confrontation
• Creates tangible, fundable outcomes

When

Pilot Timeline (12 months)

Months 1–2

• Community consultation and consent
• Selection of local coordinators
• Purchase and preparation of equipment
• Training in camera use and basic media handling

Months 3–6

• Deployment of field cameras
• Plant photography
• Regular data retrieval
• Initial recording of Awajún language narration

Months 7–9

• Continued documentation
• Translation into Spanish and English
• Editing of short educational videos

Months 10–12

• Community screenings
• Archive organization
• Supporter reporting
• Planning for expansion to additional sites

How the Project Works

Step 1: Field Camera Deployment

• Motion-activated cameras are installed along animal trails, river edges, and forest corridors.
• Locations are chosen by experienced Awajún community members.
• Cameras operate for weeks at a time, capturing wildlife without disturbance.

Step 2: Plant Photography

• Community members identify plants of importance.
• Plants are photographed in their natural environment.
• Local names and uses are recorded.

Step 3: Community Storytelling

• A community member appears on camera with selected images.
• They describe the animal or plant in Awajún first:
  • name,
  • behavior or use,
  • cultural meaning,
  • stories or teachings.

Step 4: Translation

• Awajún narration is translated into Spanish by bilingual speakers.
• Spanish translations are then translated into English.
• Original Awajún audio is always preserved (subtitles rather than dubbing).

Step 5: Sharing and Archiving

• Videos are shared locally for education and cultural continuity.
• Selected content is shared externally with supporters and educational partners.
• All materials remain community-owned.

Ethical Commitments

• Free, prior, and informed consent
• Community decides what is documented
• No sacred or restricted knowledge is shared
• No removal of physical samples
• Community retains access to all materials
• External use requires permission

Expected Outcomes

For the Community

• Strengthened use of Awajún language
• Intergenerational knowledge transfer
• Youth engagement with cultural heritage
• Pride in biodiversity stewardship

For Conservation

• Visual documentation of wildlife presence
• Local ecological context for species behavior
• Evidence supporting Indigenous land protection

For Supporters

• Tangible, visual outcomes
• Transparent, community-led impact
• Educational materials usable beyond the project

Budget Overview (Pilot Project)

How Supporters Can Participate

Supporters may:

• Fund the pilot phase
• Sponsor additional cameras
• Support translation and editing
• Fund youth training
• Help scale the project to other Awajún communities

Support is financial only; the project remains community-led.

Closing Statement

For thousands of years, the Awajún people have lived in direct relationship with the forests and rivers of northern Amazonia. Their knowledge of animals, plants, seasons, and landscapes was not written in books or stored in databases—it was carried in spoken language, lived experience, and daily practice. Elders taught youth by walking the forest together, by naming what they saw, and by explaining how each species fit into a larger web of life.

Today, that system of knowledge transmission is under unprecedented pressure. Rapid changes—roads, outside economies, formal schooling, and now digital connectivity—have transformed how information reaches Indigenous communities. While internet access brings benefits, it also accelerates the replacement of Indigenous languages and local knowledge with outside narratives. Children increasingly encounter the world through screens that do not speak their language and do not reflect their relationship to the land. As elders pass away, irreplaceable ecological knowledge risks disappearing with them.

Forest Voices responds to this moment with a simple but powerful idea: use modern tools to preserve living knowledge, without separating it from the people who hold it.

By documenting wildlife and plants through field cameras and photography—and pairing those images with explanations spoken by Awajún community members in their own language—this project restores Indigenous voices to the center of conservation storytelling. Animals are not just photographed; they are named. Plants are not just cataloged; they are understood. The forest is not presented as an abstract ecosystem, but as a lived homeland.

For the Awajún community, the impact is immediate and tangible: elders see their knowledge respected and preserved; youth engage with technology in a way that strengthens, rather than replaces, cultural identity; language remains active, relevant, and authoritative; and the community gains a permanent record of its relationship with the land.

For conservation, the impact is equally significant: biodiversity is documented with local ecological context; Indigenous stewardship is visibly linked to species presence; and conservation narratives are grounded in lived experience rather than external interpretation.

Forest Voices is not about resisting change. It is about guiding change responsibly—ensuring that as technology reaches deeper into the forest, it carries Indigenous knowledge forward rather than leaving it behind.

By supporting this project, partners help ensure that the Amazon is documented not as an empty wilderness, but as a cultural landscape shaped by people who know it intimately. The voices recorded today will inform future generations—both within the community and beyond— about what it means to live with the forest, not just study it.

In doing so, Forest Voices affirms a fundamental truth: protecting biodiversity and protecting Indigenous knowledge are inseparable goals.