Highways, Monkeys, and Human Collaboration

Michel Lulo

Primate Conservation

April 14, 2025

Highways, Monkeys, and Human Collaboration

Image by Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

In Brazil’s Amazon, a creative partnership between the Reconecta Project and the Waimiri-Atroari Indigenous people is showing that saving wildlife doesn’t have to come at the expense of local communities. Together, they’ve installed 30 canopy bridges over a major highway to help primates like the golden-handed tamarin and robust capuchin cross safely without being hit by vehicles, a major cause of death for these animals.

What’s powerful about this project isn’t just the number of animals helped (though that’s impressive too). It’s the way local Indigenous knowledge was placed at the center. The Waimiri-Atroari helped identify key crossing points based on their lifelong understanding of the forest. That kind of collaboration reminded me of the Hutton reading, which challenged the idea that top-down conservation (like fortress-style protected areas) is always best. In many cases, isolating communities from their land hurts both them and the species we’re trying to protect.

Image by Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

The Reconecta Project shows what’s possible when conservation isn’t imposed, but co-created. It contrasts sharply with examples like the Ucayali case in Bergert’s reading, where Indigenous people were excluded from decisions about their land and fined for simply living there. Instead, Reconecta celebrates local leadership, so much so that biologist Fernanda Abra left her prestigious Whitley Award trophy with the Waimiri-Atroari community.

This partnership raises a bigger question for conservation: are we doing enough to center local voices, especially in biodiversity hotspots like the Amazon? With 40% of Brazil’s primates at risk, solutions like these highlight the importance of involving locals, especially those who live with nature, like indigenous people, in conservation.


Sources:

Begert, Blanca. “In Peru, forest communities are fighting to regain ownership of protected land.” Grist, 20 Apr. 2023.https://grist.org/indigenous/in-peru-forest-communities-are-fighting-to-regain-ownership-of-protected-land

Camargo, Suzana. “Indigenous people in the Amazon are helping to build bridges & save primates.” Mongabay, 19 June 2024. https://news.mongabay.com

Hutton, Jon, William M. Adams, and James C. Murombedzi. “Back to the Barriers? Changing Narratives in Biodiversity Conservation.” Forum for Development Studies, vol. 32, no. 2, 2005, pp. 341–370.

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