How traveling to the Amazon helps prevent deforestation and preserve cultural knowledge

The Amazon Rainforest is the planet’s largest carbon sink and a cultural heartland for hundreds of ancient indigenous groups. Yet this irreplaceable treasure faces threats from logging, farming, and illegal mining. Amid these challenges, travel has emerged as an unlikely but powerful tool for conservation… 

We chug down a tributary of the Madre de Dios (Mother of God) River, passing caimans and turtles along the way, before disembarking at the Gamitana Model Farm. Deep in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, we learn how seeds – collected from fruits in the surrounding jungle – are used to cultivate seedlings. 

We are shown row upon row of tiny plants (Brazil nuts, rough lemons, breadfruit, Peruvian groundcherry, and no fewer than five species of banana), and told how they will be distributed among local farmers to generate an income. But it gets better. These farmers don’t just supply the hotels in the area with sustainably-farmed organic fruits, they are also contributing to reforestation and enhancing biodiversity in the area. Talk about a win-win. 

Why it matters? 

At SA Expeditions, we are firm believers that travel can be a force for good. And nowhere is this truer than the Amazon Rainforest. Everyone knows the Amazon is the world’s biggest rainforest, but it’s hard to comprehend just how big it really is. It’s three times bigger than the second forest on the list (the vast Congo Basin). It spans nine countries and seven million square kilometers. It is as big as Australia. 

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A satellite view of South America reveals the immense scale of the Amazon Rainforest.

But the Amazon is not only remarkable because of its sheer size. Home to 10% of the world’s species, including a staggering 20% of all bird and fish species, it is the most biodiverse place on the planet. It is also a cultural treasure trove. More than 350 different cultural groups – including around 50 that have had no contact with the outside world – rely on ancient wisdom to survive in its harsh environment. 

The Amazon is one of the world’s great wonders. But it is disappearing before our eyes, as cattle ranchers, loggers, and gold miners move in. In the last 50 years, 17% of the rainforest has been lost (an area the size of France), and a further 17% is degraded. (If this doesn’t sound too bad, bear in mind that experts estimate that 20%–25% deforestation could lead to the Amazon disappearing altogether.) 

The number of Amazon tribespeople has also plummeted – from between six and nine million in the 1500s to just 250,000 today. 

The Amazon and its plants, animals, and people aren’t just a “nice to have.” As the world’s largest carbon sink, it is essential to our continued survival as a species. While politicians have arguably the largest role to play in reversing the deforestation trend (thankfully, things are looking up in this regard), this is one of those occasions where travel can make an immediate and quantifiable difference to the state of the planet. 

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Brilliantly colored macaws soar above the Amazon canopy, a vivid reminder of the biodiversity that thrives when the rainforest is protected.

Traveling to the Amazon doesn’t just help to preserve cultural and ecological knowledge – it also promotes the preservation and regeneration of the rainforest by showing local communities and governments that the Amazon’s great trees are far more valuable living than dead. Here are a few of our favorite initiatives… 

Inkaterra Hotels – Peru 

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Eco-friendly cabanas at Inkaterra’s Amazon lodge in Peru, where comfort meets conservation in the heart of the rainforest. (Photo: Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica)

The Gamitana Model Farm mentioned earlier in this article is just one of dozens of conservation and sustainability projects championed by Inkaterra, a proudly Peruvian hotel group that has been acknowledged by the United Nations as the world’s first “climate positive” hotel brand – a brand that we are proud to partner with on our flagship Peru expeditions. 

In 1975, long before ecotourism was even a thing, Lima-born hotelier José Koechlin launched Inkaterra in the hope of bringing wealth to rural Peruvians – without destroying the environment through mining or logging. His first lodge, Inkaterra Hacienda Concepción, was built on a concession in a remote patch of rainforest next to the Madre de Dios River using native techniques and materials. 

As early as 1978, Koechlin sponsored a team of researchers to produce Inkaterra’s first flora and fauna inventories. The scientists soon realized they had unearthed one of the planet’s greatest biodiversity hotspots, which prompted further research and conservation projects. Since that first inventory, a total of 996 bird species, 362 ant species, 313 butterfly species, and more than 100 mammal species have been inventoried within hotel grounds and surroundings. Twenty-eight species new to science have been described: 19 orchids, five amphibians, one butterfly, two bromeliads, and one tropical vine. 

“It’s not about being green,” says Koechlin. “It’s about keeping our main asset intact. Nature is our main asset, and to quantify our assets, to be able to measure our impact, we do inventories … just like any business.” The only difference is that his ledgers contain the numbers of species. 

Inkaterra now has three Amazon lodges (and four more elsewhere in Peru), including the innovative Amazon Field Station, which blurs the lines between science and tourism like few other hotels. Activities include participating in night watches; touring the botanical garden, bio orchard, and palmetum (a 30ha restoration plot that harbors 19 native palm species); fishing for carachama (a native fish species that is an important food source for Amazon people); and learning how to use dyeing plants to create a temporary tattoo. 

Serranía de la Lindosa – Colombia 

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Colombia’s Serranía de la Lindosa is home to one of the world’s most significant collections of Amazonian rock art. The region’s cave and cliff paintings, some dating back as far as 12,000 years, depict animals, plants, people, and shamanic transformations, and offer invaluable insights into ancient lifeways.

Ancient rock art at Serranía de la Lindosa in Colombia, a vivid record of Amazonian life painted by Indigenous peoples thousands of years ago. (Photo: Iriarte et al.)

For decades, this incredible collection was off-limits to tourists, but since the 2016 peace agreement, Serranía de la Lindosa has become a focus of both archaeological research and sustainable tourism. Locals have taken it upon themselves to act as guides, open hotels and restaurants, and generally keep the wheels of tourism turning – proving that there are viable alternatives to coca cultivation, deforestation, or involvement in armed conflict. 

To strengthen local knowledge and capacity, the University of Exeter, in partnership with Colombian institutions, created a diploma in cultural heritage management. Launched in 2023–24, the first iteration of the course trained 40 tourism guides from rural villages. The course combined systematic archaeological study with practical workshops. 

A key feature of the program is collaboration with indigenous leaders, who contribute ancestral knowledge and worldviews that enrich archaeological interpretations. The diploma has empowered communities to take an active role in preserving their cultural and natural heritage while enhancing the tourist experience and protecting both the Amazon Rainforest and its ancient cultural legacy. As Colombian archaeologist Javier Aceituno puts it, “The paintings need the people, and the people need the paintings.” 

Anavilhanas Lodge – Brazil 

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At Anavilhanas Lodge in Brazil, every stay directly supports rainforest preservation, wildlife research, and local community empowerment. (Photo: Anavilhanas Lodge)

Our preferred lodge in the Brazilian Amazon takes seriously its role in preserving the rainforest and all who call it home. In addition to preserving 520 hectares (and counting) of rainforest, Anavilhanas collaborates with the non-profit Onçafari on a camera-trapping project to monitor rare species, including jaguars and with Brazil’s National Institute of Amazon Research (INPA) on fungi research. 

As the largest employer in its corner of the Amazon, Anavilhanas has pledged to uplift the local community while respecting traditional knowledge systems. The lodge currently offers support to local schools; generates income for local craftspeople, artisans, and farmers; provides food for communities from its agro-ecological farm; spearheads a comprehensive recycling and waste-treatment project; and generates most of the electricity it needs from its on-site solar farm. 

As a guest of the lodge, you contribute to the preservation of the rainforest by providing income and employment to local people who would otherwise be tempted to engage in more exploitative industries. The pristine rainforest you encounter on your hikes, boat trips, fishing excursions, and community visits is not there by accident – it is the product of active stewardship and responsible tourism practices.