The Amazon region of South America is home to the world's largest river, tropical forest, and concentration of plant and animal species. Appreciation for this area's ecology and diverse human societies is growing, but the extent of Amazon forest burning and degradation is still very high. The causes and effects of Amazon deforestation are found both in and outside the region. Addressing these problems will, therefore, require inspiration and creative action by people in the Amazon and beyond.

The mission of the Center for Amazon Community Ecology is to promote the understanding, conservation and sustainable development of human and other biological communities in the Amazon region. Our three strategies are research, community support and education. One of our main goals is to study the ecology and develop the sustainable harvest and marketing of non-timber forest products such as fruits, fibers, resins, and oils. We also work with indigenous and other forest peoples to sustain local resources and support their communities. See More

The Elk Creek Café and Aleworks on 100 West Street in Millheim, PA will host a reception and fundraiser for the Center for Amazon Community Ecology on Sunday, January 10 from 3 to 5 pm. Center founder Campbell Plowden will give a presentation about the group's conservation work in Peru. The sale of native Amazon handicrafts and photos will benefit the Center's programs and partner communities. The photo exhibit "Intimate views of Amazônia" features creative images of Amazon nature and forest people from Plowden's two decades of travel in the region. The photos will be displayed at the Café from Jan. 5 through Feb. 2.
Contact the Center or the Café at (814) 349-8850 or www.elkcreekcafe.net for more information.

CACE had a busy field season this summer in the northern Peruvian Amazon. A CACE team did rapid inventories of copal trees with teams of Bora natives near the Ampiyacu River and Maijuna natives on the Yanayacu River. We also did our first distillation of copal resin from two sites with a copper alembique pot to produce samples of wonderful smelling copal essential oil. We’ve sent samples to a specialty fragrance company in California to evaluate its commercial potential. Read the full story and see more pictures in Research Update Summer 2009. Also see our new videos about this research - Amazon Ecology (Part 1): Use and insect ecology of copal resin in the Peruvian Amazon and Amazon Ecology (Part 2): Sustainable harvest and marketing of copal resin in the Peruvian Amazon

- Copal and handicraft projects progress in Peru: Updates on Center's research on the ecology, harvest, and marketing of copal resin and handicrafts and new partnerships with indigenous associations and mestizo communities
The Last Forest: the Amazon in the Age of Globalization: Review of Brian Kelly and Mark London's newest book about challenges and opportunities in the Amazon.
- Connections Profiles: Dr. Rick Schuhmann - a dynamic Penn State Univ. Engineering professor whose students are linking up with Center projects and film student Greg Harriott who spent six weeks shooting video of Center projects in Peru
- Amazon Connections to Climate Change: Forest ecologist Dan Nepstad discusses how Amazon forest burning affects the global climate and how global warming is changing the Amazon
- Report from the Field: : Campbell Plowden reports on a special kind of copal resin used by Bora Indians that's made from yellow latex of a rainforest tree attacked by an unknown long-horned beetle
See previous issues of Amazon Connections or subscribe to the newsletter

Students from Penn State University are helping the Center with their skills and time with photography, video, graphic design, marketing, writing and research. See Profiles of Current and Past Interns and Key Volunteers