A skyward view of a lush green canopy of a rainforest.

Protecting the Natural Wealth of the Colombian Amazon .

Environment and Natural Resources | Environmental and Climate Risk Management | Biodiversity Conservation and Natural Resource Management | Environmental and Social Support | Combatting Environmental Crimes | Land Tenure and Resource Governance
Latin America and the Caribbean

Amazon Alive Activity

Project Dates: July 2021 - June 2026
USAID/Colombia’s Amazon Alive Activity (Amazon Alive) responds to Colombia’s recent surge in deforestation and loss of biodiversity by improving environmental crime prevention and prosecution and strengthening forest conservation and management.

The government’s presence in Colombia’s Amazon is limited because of the region’s geographical remoteness and because illegal groups have historically occupied the Amazon, driving and contributing to illicit economic activities. Land grabbing, intensive cattle ranching, illegal mining, and unsustainable agriculture have proliferated in the region. As a result, deforestation has increased, native vegetation and biodiversity have deteriorated, and socioeconomic inequalities have deepened. These challenges hamper the government’s achievement of its climate change mitigation goals, threaten its world-renowned biodiversity, undermine regional livelihoods, and complicate the implementation of the country’s historic 2016 Peace Accord.

Amazon Alive aims to reduce deforestation and biodiversity loss in the Amazon in multiple ways, focusing on the region’s Caquetá, Guaviare, Meta, and Putumayo departments. First, the activity strives to improve the effectiveness of the government’s response to environmental crimes by strengthening social cohesion, responsive governance, and environmentally sustainable economic development. In addition, the activity seeks to improve forest management and conservation practices to protect the biological richness of Colombia’s Amazon by promoting sustainable economic alternatives for local populations and motivating residents to reduce threats to biodiversity through behavior change.

By improving environmental governance and promoting sustainable economic growth, Amazon Alive strives to conserve the rich biodiversity in Colombia’s Amazon and cultivate sustainable, economically viable livelihoods for its populations.

Project Goals


  • Establish and support sustained coordination among governmental institutions that prosecute environmental crimes
  • Empower civil society to effectively prevent and manage environmental crimes due to deforestation
  • Strengthen land management and administration mechanisms that promote forest conservation and management
  • Promote sustainable livelihoods with productive activities linked to established markets
Video screenshot of Camilo Arreaza Chaparro talking, wearing a brown hat and coral t-shirt

Colombia’s Carbon Stewards: Sustainable Ranchers in the Savannas

This video is part of our docuseries on Communities and Carbon in Colombia and highlights the experience of cattle ranchers in the savannas.

Colombia’s Carbon Stewards: Piangueras in the Pacific Coast

This video is part of our docuseries on Communities and Carbon in Colombia and highlights the experience of Afro-Colombian clam harvesters and those protecting against deforestation and forest degradation on Colombia's Pacific coast. 

A woman holds a plant in a greenhouse

Colombia’s Carbon Stewards: The Misak in the Páramos

This video is part of our docuseries on Communities and Carbon in Colombia and highlights the experience of the Indigenous Misak community in Colombia's high Andes ecosystems (páramos).

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