CINCIA represents the Sabin Center’s most ambitious and influential project — a multifaceted research and education initiative in one of the most biodiverse places on earth, Madre de Dios in the Peruvian Amazon.
Vision
At the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (CINCIA), Latin American scientists who are recognized experts in forestry, mercury toxicity, fish and water quality, biochar fertilization, drones and education combine to develop a deep scientific understanding of the environmental devastation brought on my widespread gold mining. Education outreach in Peruvian schools helps raise awareness of the importance of the Amazon to local communities and the world. Funders include the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), World Wildlife Fund and a host of Peruvian government and non-governmental agencies.
Mission
CINCIA scientists work to build trust with government leaders, conservation specialists, miners and farmers to use the land more efficiently and with less environmental damage. The expertise of its scientists is being developed into strategies and public policy to help restore an invaluable tropical ecosystem and to mitigate public health risks. The work of CINCIA serves as a model for large-scale reforestation and restoration, improved biodiversity conservation, and more sustainable small-scale mining and farming techniques in Peru and in all of Amazonia.
Wake Forest in Peru
CINCIA in the News
Growth in higher-paying green jobs can benefit rural North Carolina, says CEES affiliate Mark Curtis
WFDD
August 11, 2022
The scientists restoring a gold-mining disaster zone in the Peruvian Amazon
nature
February 4, 2020
Restoring forests 1 tree at a time, to help repair climate
Associated Press
October 1, 2019
Peru looks for reforms after mining decimates the Amazon
PBS
September 22, 2019
Gold mining leaves heart of Peruvian Amazon a wasteland
PBS
September 21, 2019
It’s Not Just Fires. Your Phone Is Also Destroying The Amazon.
BuzzFeed News
August 31, 2019