Much of my research, from camera trapping to interviews to mineral licks, fits into this Biocultural Resource Management project at OnePlanet. OnePlanet has been monitoring the biodiversity in the MKRCA since 2013, and my work is the latest facet of that larger initiative. This project emphasizes that Indigenous communities are sustained by the natural resources of their ancestral lands, and those resources are intricately tied to culture. A main focus of the project is crafting sustainable management plans in collaboration with the Maijuna for many of the species which they depend upon for food security and/or economic stability. 

The Maijuna collaborate with local ecotourism agency Amazon Explorama Lodges to facilitate ecotourism activities in the community of Sucusari. Maijuna experts guide tourists through a range of activities focused on various projects they manage or subjects they want to teach, from stingless bees to medicinal plants to fishing. These tourists are often international, and may range from university groups which spend up to a week in the community, or half-day visitors that just pop in. We work with the Maijuna to do capacity-building and training on engaging with international tourists, so they they can communicate what they want to teach as clearly as possible and earn a sustainable income for conserving their ancestral lands.