Approximately half of Amazonia is currently under some form of protection. While this is a tremendous achievement, more is needed to avert an ecological tipping point. According to the Nobre-Lovejoy hypothesis that emerged from our 2017 UF-Moore collaborative conference, if Amazonian deforestation crossed over a 25% threshold, negative biophysical synergies could irreversibly destabilize the basin and larger planetary systems.

Since early 2025, the University of Florida, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and on-the ground partners have convened 123 Pan-Amazonian Indigenous elders and youth, private sector actors, researchers, government officials, and conservation, development and legal practitioners in workshop settings across the basin. As part of the Power of Connections project, these representatives from 8 countries gathered to exchange and synthesize what has been working on the ground to consolidate and expand biodiversity conservation that honors territorial and cultural integrity, fosters pragmatic synergies between ancestral wisdom and contemporary understandings and contexts, and creates opportunities for Indigenous peoples and traditional communities who are on the frontlines of safeguarding regional biodiversity.

While the intertwined topical challenges are innumerable, the five 3.5-day workshops focused on critical current issues pertinent to all Amazon basin countries. In addition to forthcoming scholarly publications, each workshop has generated complete workshop reports, executive analyses of key workshop findings, graphic reports, short videos capturing participant perspectives on the workshops, and multiple social media posts. In a context of constant and unpredictable change in Amazonia, the “Power of Connections” Conference and related activities built on these first-hand, effective conservation insights, leveraging the collective intelligence of all participants to further advance protections for Pan-Amazonian lands and people.