Across Peru’s Amazon, Indigenous communities are proving that local knowledge and modern technology can work together to protect forests. Their success offers an encouraging example of Positive news ireland and global solutions journalism, showing how communities can reduce wildfire damage even as drought and extreme heat intensify.
In Osherato, near the meeting point of the Ene and Tambo rivers, Asháninka community leader Romer Quentimari Garcia monitors signs of smoke using satellite imagery, drones and radio communications. As a trained brigadista, he helps determine whether smoke comes from a controlled burn or a wildfire, then coordinates a rapid response.
Indigenous-led action delivers a dramatic reduction in fires
Garcia is one of hundreds of people trained through the Paamari programme, a partnership between the Central Asháninka of the Ene River (CARE) and Cool Earth. Launched in 2023, the initiative combines wildfire prevention, early-warning systems, safe burning practices and community firefighting.
The results across CARE’s 45 communities have been striking:
- Wildfires fell from 25 in 2023 to nine in 2024.
- The area burned dropped from 2,648 hectares to 492 hectares—an 81% reduction.
- No wildfires were recorded in the territory in 2025, despite several threats being detected and extinguished.
This progress is particularly significant because Peru has experienced severe wildfire seasons. A major drought led to more than 10,000 fires and the loss of approximately 63,000 hectares of tree cover. Forest fires destroy habitats, release carbon and weaken ecosystems that help regulate the climate.
Combining ancestral knowledge with modern tools
Paamari’s approach is built around community ownership. Satellite data and drones can identify possible fires, but local brigadistas understand the terrain, weather patterns and customary land-management practices needed to respond effectively.
In remote rainforest areas, national emergency services may struggle to arrive quickly. Indigenous communities therefore act as the first—and often most effective—line of defence. Their experience also helps distinguish safe, controlled burning used in crop management from fires that could spread dangerously.
Project coordinators argue that lasting conservation programmes must be designed with local people rather than imposed from outside. When communities lead the work, they are more likely to maintain it after external funding or organisational support ends.
Why community control matters
The model reflects wider evidence that Indigenous-managed territories can deliver conservation outcomes comparable to, or better than, some protected areas. It also recognises that forest protection is connected to livelihoods, culture and identity—not simply to environmental policy.
For Asháninka communities, the forest provides materials for woodwork, crafts and traditional crowns. Protecting it is therefore part of protecting everyday life and cultural continuity.
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Expanding wildfire prevention across the region
Cool Earth plans to extend fire-prevention training to the nearby communities of Cutivireni and Oviri. The expansion is intended to strengthen local preparedness as climate change increases the likelihood of drought, heatwaves and fast-moving fires.
Wildfire management is only one part of the wider deforestation challenge. Mining, logging and illicit crops also threaten the Amazon, meaning governments must provide stronger, better-aligned support for Indigenous conservation and sustainable livelihoods.
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A powerful lesson in forest protection
The Paamari programme shows why effective environmental action often begins with the people who know a landscape best. Technology can improve detection, but trust, local leadership and cultural knowledge make rapid action possible.
As Garcia puts it, the forest is inseparable from community life. That principle is at the heart of this example of Positive news ireland and one of the most hopeful positive stories world audiences can learn from: protecting nature works best when local communities are empowered to lead.
