Amazon Conservation Team

What it reported doing in 2025

Land rights, protections & management- in brazil, on bananal island in the state of tocantins, brazil, the awa people are advancing the recovery of their territory through planting, forest management, and initiatives led by the kawu nursery project, created by the community with support from act. Built in may 2025, the nursery ensures a continuous supply of native seedlings for their restoration work and strengthens the community's autonomy in environmental recovery. Over 800 seedlings are currently being planted. Along riverbanks and wetlands, the awa have cultivated caju, buriti, acai, and aroeira - species grown by the community itself, essential for protecting water and soil.- in close consultation with the communities, in 2025, act carried out land tenure studies for the demarcation of kokama territories along the ica river in brazil's upper solimoes river region, covering nearly 300,000 acres and all kokama villages. The demarcation is an essential step toward official collective land rights for the kokama over their ancestral territory. Additionally, act mapped hydrography, vegetation, soil types, and native species. Throughout the fieldwork, ethnomapping workshops were conducted with community members.- in 2025, the communities of brazil's parana do boa-boa indigenous land completed the production and publication of their pgta (territorial and environmental management plan), a formally recognized guide developed by indigenous peoples to support the management and protection of their territories. Comparable to the life plans developed in other act work areas, the pgta was the first supported by act-brasil - a milestone collectively developed with the leadership of the nadeb and kanamary peoples. The pgta is where the indigenous peoples express their aspirations and draw up their pathways and strategies to care for the forest, the waters, the flora and fauna, and their communities over the long term, based on their worldview.- in guyana, ancestral mapping has been carried out in and with the full partnership of four macushi indigenous communities, resulting in territorial and village maps with more than a thousand landscape and demographic data points. Among multiple objectives, the endeavor seeks to empower community governance and bolster protection of biodiversity. In 2025, act met with additional villages of the macushi, waiwai, and wapishana peoples to increase the ancestral mapping reach and to record oral histories, also known as stories of place, with the goal of preserving and transmitting traditional knowledge.- since 2007, act has helped train more than 60 community rangers and established seven ranger posts across suriname. The most recent post, vier gebroeders, opened in june 2025 in the sipaliwini nature reserve, in a remote area near the brazilian border. The station, manned at all hours, is an important step toward improving the protection of a sensitive area from violations related to illegal activities - especially land degradation from illegal mining activities, human rights violations against indigenous people, and wildlife, drug, and illegal arms trafficking - with far-reaching consequences for people and the environment. Community rangers in suriname play a critical role in identifying and reporting illegal and environmentally destructive activities - particularly gold mining, which has surged in recent years due to record-high gold prices. In 2025, following intensive training, six rangers achieved the status of special officer of the national police force, certified by suriname's ministry of justice and police within the context of an agreement signed between act and the ministry. The status integrates the community rangers in the national monitoring system and provides them with a limited, non-weapon-bearing mandate to enforce the law by acting against violations and reporting on illegal activities in their territory. Additionally, within the scope of an agreement with act, 16 rangers were traine

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 25.3%; rating input score 25
• Program expense ratio: 81.6%; rating input score 82
• Fundraising efficiency: $56.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Pass
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
  • Requires narrative reports: Fail
  • Conducts field audits: Pass
  • May suspend future funding: Fail
  • Requires financial reports: Pass
  • Conducts site visits: Pass
  • Requires grant agreements: Fail
  • May require repayment: Fail
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 86.7%; rating input score 87; 16th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 70.7%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.03; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 6.1%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 18.5% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings