Menu
Through this Key Activity, we aim to protect Matavén territory and its rich natural resources by identifying and mitigating internal and external threats. Its successful implementation has led to significant results and benefits, including:
We organize annual training workshops for the Indigenous Guards, Indigenous Captains, leaders, and community members from the five Matavén zones.
These workshops focus on strengthening governance and natural resources protection strategies, covering key topics like territory administration, forest conservation, fire prevention, and other crucial areas tied to the protection of Matavén’s natural resources.
Using satellite imagery and social cartography, we have designed comprehensive surveillance routes to monitor the territory. We have also provided GPS devices to zonal coordinators and trained them in specialized territorial monitoring techniques.
We monitor early warning alerts from IDEAM (Colombian Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology, and Environmental Studies) and Corporinoquia to prevent forest fires and detect other potential hazards. This proactive approach ensures we can respond quickly to protect Matavén’s forests and communities from emerging threats.
We conduct aerial tours across the Resguardo Selva de Matavén, gathering visual evidence such as photos and videos with GPS data. We also process satellite images to track changes in the territory, utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to provide continuous monitoring and updates.
We have constructed surveillance and control posts at strategic points where deforestation and other threats could enter the territory. These posts enable more effective monitoring and protection of the forests.
To foster community participation, we designed and installed five billboards displaying the Indigenous Guard’s contact information. This allows the local community to report potential threats or urgent situations, ensuring timely responses
While forests in Colombia’s transition zones to the Amazon are rapidly disappearing, the forests of the Resguardo Selva Matavén remain healthy.
Forests are vital carbon sinks, absorbing carbon dioxide and storing carbon in trees and soil. They also provide food, medicine, and play a central role in cultural traditions. However, deforestation is a growing global crisis, and the Colombian Amazon is particularly vulnerable to this threat.
Deforestation is the large-scale clearing of forests, often for agriculture, infrastructure, or resource extraction. This process destroys ecosystems and releases stored carbon into the atmosphere, worsening climate change.
The Matavén Forest is strategically located in the transition zone between the Orinoquía savannas and the Amazon rainforest. This unique region acts as a natural shield, protecting the Amazon from encroaching threats, making its conservation critical for both local and global ecosystems
In response to the growing deforestation risks, ACATISEMA, in a strategic alliance with MEDIAMOS F&M, launched the REDD+ Matavén Project in 2013. This initiative was designed to promote sustainable development and protect the forest from deforestation.
The REDD+ Matavén Project established two critical zones:
By preventing deforestation, we are making a global impact in the fight against climate change and a local impact by ensuring Indigenous communities continue to access clean drinking water, food from hunting and fishing, medicinal plants, and protection from pollution— all while preserving biodiversity.
While deforestation rates are rising in other parts of the Amazon, Matavén stands as a beacon of success, where external threats—not the Indigenous people’s cultural and ancestral practices—pose the real challenge. The REDD+ Matavén Project plays a crucial role in mitigating these external threats, and it’s essential to raise awareness about the significance of protecting this valuable territory