ACOANA was created in 1995 by a group of friends who shared the same vision of biodiversity conservation in Venezuela. Since then, our epic navigation through Guayana has been constant, persistent, rebellious, and free in its research/activities to promote human wellbeing as a route towards the conservation of the fabulous tropical system of the Guiana Shield.
We focus our efforts on promoting essential functions within the population of the community (i.e. to have good health), as well as more complex functions to promote a better life within their set of values (i.e. participation in community life, defense of ancestral land, development of artistic abilities within their own culture, to enjoy family relations, to live within their own culture in a protected traditional habitat, etc.). The conceptual frameworks of our interventions are based on focusing on human development and capabilities, ecological health, adaptability in continuous learning, and the feasibility of the system.
As our work has reached its maturity, our mission remains unrelenting with regards to our vision of biodiversity conservation, but it now takes less conventional paths to the biology of conservation. For us, to approach conservation of the biodiversity of life, means to focus on what people are capable of being, and doing, to live the life they wish, linked with valuable functions of natural ecosystems, which are the pillars of human development and well being.
