Our IEK-CHANGES T-shirts are here!
Our brand-new IEK-CHANGES T-shirts have finally arrived! Beautifully illustrated by our friend and artist Mar Cartró-Sabaté, the design portrays a Tsimane’ woman sharing knowledge with her daughter beneath the forest canopy. Together, they are observing the understorey palm locally known as cajtafa’ (Geonoma deversa), a cultural keystone species for the Tsimane’ people and a powerful […]
New paper on Amazonian biosphere reserves
How effective are UNESCO’s biosphere reserves at protecting Amazonian forests? Our new study published in the journal Conservation Science and Practice provides encouraging evidence that they play an important role in slowing deforestation across the western Amazon. The study assessed seven biosphere reserves in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador, including Pilón Lajas and Beni, two landscapes […]
Understanding jatata
Jatata in Spanish, Cajtafa’ in Tsimane’, or Geonoma deversa in botanical terms, is a very important plant to the Tsimane’ people. It is a small palm whose leaves are used to make roofs that can resist the pouring tropical rains with ease for over ten years. Though this plant has kept the Tsimane’ comfortably dry […]
Participatory methods and decolonizing science
Our team is committed to working towards the end of coloniality in science and uses participatory and decolonial methodologies designed to foster collaboration, reciprocity, and co-production of knowledge. One of the methods we use is “photovoice”. Here, the people who want to work with us are handed out cameras. A research question is asked, and […]
A mural envisioning the future
During our last trip to the upriver communities, we held four workshops to discuss Tsimane’ culture. Using photographs taken by community members, we worked together to identify the key cultural aspects that define what it means to be Tsimane’. These included living close to the forest and the river, hunting, fishing, making and using saraij […]
Robin shows us a typical day in the field!
What does fieldwork in the Bolivian Amazon really look like? A new short video featuring our PhD researcher Robin Bredero zur Lage offers a glimpse into the day-to-day realities of ethnobiological research and has quickly become one of our most successful social media posts to date! Filmed during fieldwork with the Tsimane’ people in the […]
Preserving botanical knowledge for the future
We are delighted to share that we have recently donated 105 duplicate botanical specimens collected as part of the IEK-CHANGES project to the Herbarium of the Institut Botànic de Barcelona. These specimens complement a corresponding set of duplicates housed at the Bolivian National Herbarium, ensuring that this valuable botanical heritage remains accessible both in Bolivia […]
Welcome back, Júlia!
After several months in the Bolivian Amazon, we are delighted to welcome Júlia Orrit back to Barcelona following the second phase of her fieldwork with the Tsimane’ people. During her time in Bolivia, Júlia collected important data on Cultural Keystone Species and advanced research on changes in the plants used by Tsimane’ women to make […]
A walk in the forest
Written by Alexandra Florence Gilbert We started off as three. Three became seven, then five more joined, and soon we were a long snake of women weaving our way through the forest. We were on the lookout for plants collected and used by local Tsimane’ women to create beautiful seed necklaces and woven saraij bags. As […]
Barricades
Over three weeks ago the first roads were being blocked in Bolivia, as protestors demanded better wages and an end to the ubiquitous scarcity of petrol. As time passed the blockades have become bigger and more widespread and at this point the protests are seriously affecting the country and its people. Luckily for us, most […]
