Amazon CoLab: Connect brings together innovators creating conservation solutions in Peru
PUERTO MALDONADO — This May, Conservation X Labs, an organization applying technology and innovation to prevent the sixth mass extinction, hosted the first edition of the “Amazon CoLab: Connect” event in Puerto Maldonado, Peru. Puerto Maldonado is a gold mining hotspot in the Peruvian Amazon.
The event created a space for interaction and community building for the innovators and partners participating in the Amazon CoLab, a six-month acceleration program to support teams developing, testing, and advancing solutions that address the environmental and social costs of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) with regional partners in the Amazon.
The innovator teams are developing tools for cleaner mining, restoration and remediation, monitoring and actionable data, and solutions for supply chains, and will work to advance their solutions to conserve the Amazon rainforest. The first cohort began in January 2022 with 6 international teams, and the second cohort will be made up of the 13 finalists selected in the Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge: The Amazon.
During the Amazon CoLab: Connect, 17 of the 19 participant teams from both cohorts were in attendance. Innovators from the first cohort offered insights into their innovation process; discussed the challenges and opportunities with developing new ideas and products; and shared their experiences with regional and international collaboration. All participants had the opportunity to visit and observe formalized mining sites in the Madre de Dios region.
At the event, Picoyune, a device that monitors mercury concentration levels, received additional funding for outstanding achievements in developing and testing the device through the first Amazon CoLab cohort.
Representatives from partner organizations also attended and provided support throughout the event, including the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation - CINCIA, USAID Peru/PREVENT Project, Peru's National Service of Natural Protected Areas by the State - Sernanp, Peru’s Regional Directorate of Energy, Mines and Hydrocarbons (DREMH), CITE Minería y Medioambiente, Engineering for Change, Killa, Casa Collab, as well as the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Peru - MINEM. These critical partners and allies provided their experience, insights, and expertise to the benefit of the innovator teams in attendance.
This program is part of the “The Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge: The Amazon,” a global competition launched by Conservation X Labs in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Microsoft, and ESRI. This Challenge seeks to advance innovative solutions that transform artisanal and small-scale gold mining into a more environmentally responsible and socially equitable practice in the Amazon.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
CXL’s Amy Richards’ wildlife photos from the Tambopata National Reserve in Madre de Dios.
A note on the event by Radio Madre de Dios (in Spanish)
A note by Revista Caretas about Picoyune receiving additional funding.
CGTN America’s story highlighting our work in the Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge.
