A permanent camera-trap network in the Biosphere Reserve of Avireri-Vraem, led by Ashaninka park rangers and youth. Traditional Ecological Knowledge and field science combine to document and protect species at the ecological edge — Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered.
The Amazon faces a rapid biodiversity decline driven by deforestation, road expansion, illegal logging, mining, and climate instability. Large mammals are the first to disappear: habitat fragmentation and hunting pressure narrow their range faster than national monitoring systems can track them.
The Reserva Comunal Ashaninka, inside the Biosphere Reserve of Avireri-Vraem in central Peru, is co-managed by Ashaninka communities and SERNANP. Park rangers and youth from those communities know the forest at a resolution no remote-sensing dataset can match — and they are the first responders to every threat that crosses the reserve boundary.
ARI works alongside them to install and sustain the first permanent camera-trap network in the reserve, linking Traditional Ecological Knowledge with modern science methods so the species recorded today can still be recorded in 2050.
Their survival is a measure of whether the Amazon, as we know it, will still be standing for the next generation.
Two EDGE species anchor the program — the lowland tapir and the giant armadillo — and three crosscutting workstreams sustain the monitoring: Indigenous training, spatial ecology, and a parallel zoopharmacognosy line of inquiry. In partnership with Dr. Elodie Freymann, Reserva Comunal Ashaninka, and EcoAshaninka.
Camera-trap monitoring of Lowland Tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) and Giant Armadillos (Priodontes maximus) led alongside Ashaninka park rangers and youth to understand movement, habitat use, population health, and ecological change.
Documenting Ashaninka methods for identifying, tracking, interpreting, and monitoring wildlife, alongside traditional ecological knowledge associated with these large mammals, forests, and medicinal plants.
Investigating how wild animals interact with medicinal plants and forest resources to better understand self-medication behaviours, ecosystem health, and rainforest resilience.
Training Indigenous youth, park rangers, and local communities in camera-trap installation, biodiversity monitoring, ecological interpretation, and species conservation.
Supporting legal protections, conservation strategies, and public awareness initiatives for threatened Amazonian species and their habitats through science, storytelling, and Indigenous leadership.
Producing publications, visual documentation, and collaborative outputs that bridge scientific research with Indigenous perspectives and conservation practice.
Indigenous wisdom is fundamental to conservation success. We bring our traditions and our knowledge into modern science.
— Richar Demetrio · Ashaninka Scientist and Park Ranger
These cameras let us understand the fauna of the reserve and design conservation strategies that actually work.
— David Cárdenas · Director of Reserva Comunal Ashaninka - SERNANP
Camera-trap records, training outputs and scientific results integrating traditional knowledge directly contribute to Peru’s National Biodiversity Strategy 2030 and 2050, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (Targets 4 and 21), and the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme mandates that safeguard the Avireri-Vraem Biosphere.
Co-developed with the Reserva Comunal Ashaninka. Project supported by Studio BlueGreen and active partners.
Select coverage on our work with Indigenous-led camera trapping.
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