At 5 years old, Karoline Marques took a trip to the Amazon with her grandparents, and it was then that she was inspired to become a biologist. Ultimately this love of the forest and the animals that call it home led her to become an Amazon project manager at Conservation International.
To keep the Amazon rainforest standing there is a fundamental element that plays an equally important role as biodiversity: people that call the forest home.
For local communities in the Amazon, their livelihoods, culture, spirituality and health are all intimately connected to the rainforest and river. And while this vital ecosystem and the people that call it home face threats that put their lives and homes in danger, there is hope. The people of the forest are strong and resilient. The world is awakening to the importance of the Amazon for a stable climate. And Conservation International is supporting the communities that rely on it. Together, we will overcome.
This forest is made up of life, plants, animals, fungi, but especially people. There is no way to think about conserving the forest if we don’t put people at the center of this discussion.
Learn more about Conservation International’s work in Amazonia: https://www.conservation.org/places/amazonia
