Conserving landscapes and watersheds in the Amazon is crucial to the communities and ecosystems of the area--and even to the rest of the world. To provide a scope of how important this area is to the planet: rivers in the Amazon headwaters region generate nearly a quarter of the world’s fresh water, while the forests help regulate the Earth’s climate.
The Amazon headwaters region is home to the greatest concentration of biodiversity and abundant endemic species, especially along the eastern flank of the tropical Andes. Other ecosystems in the region boast one-third of the planet’s species of flora and fauna, with new species still being discovered every day. In addition, approximately 19 million people live in the Amazon headwaters region, including 1.4 million indigenous people.
The conservation of these areas is crucial, and they require sufficient management and good governance mechanisms to ensure their long-term viability. The foundation was recently part of a joint announcement of a total of $15 million in funding for conservation in the Andean Amazon region of Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.
In order to make this effort effective, there is an imperative to increase donor coordination and leverage as many resources as possible. Collaboration among funders can be a powerful tool. Learn more about the coordinated effort from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Wyss Foundation and the Andes Amazon Fund in the official announcement: Joint partnerships among funders expand and strengthen protected areas and indigenous lands in the Amazon headwaters.
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