Amazon
Projects - Amazon Headwaters Initiative
The rivers of the Amazon headwaters wind through habitats of staggering biodiversity.
© WWF
The mighty rivers of the Amazon region nourish a vast area across eight South American countries and one overseas territory. The Amazon's major tributaries originate in the foothills of the Andes Mountains, with the headwaters of the entire basin forming an arc stretching from Venezuela to Bolivia.
These headwaters play a vital ecological role in the largest watershed on the planet - sustaining a wealth of plant and animal species and providing food, shelter and livelihoods for the Amazon Basin's 30 million inhabitants. Like many of the world's remaining natural places, this vibrant yet fragile region is under pressure from expanding illegal logging, agriculture and cattle ranching, infrastructure development and energy exploration.
To protect this extraordinary place, in 2003 WWF launched the Amazon Headwaters Initiative (AHI) that builds on more than four decades of conservation in the region. AHI is a ten-year, tri-national program aimed at safeguarding the southwestern headwaters of the Amazon Basin by preserving large expanses of forest and freshwater habitats in Bolivia, Brazil and Peru. This innovative program brings together diverse stakeholders such as indigenous and traditional resource users, governments and local non governmental organizations to achieve long-term, large-scale conservation results. Through AHI, protected areas will be more effective and will anchor a mosaic of lands that provide environmental and sustainable development benefits.
In the first four years of AHI, WWF successfully advocated for the creation of three new protected areas in Bolivia and Peru covering almost 7 million acres - about five times the state of Delaware. By the end of 2006, WWF supported improved management in 12 protected areas, five large indigenous territories and multiple indigenous and traditional communities surrounding protected areas - a total of more than 25 million acres being conserved more effectively. We are currently working with governments in Brazil, Bolivia and Peru to establish eight additional areas. Download the AHI factsheet.
To learn more about our work with local communities and Protected Areas in Bolivia click here
