Safeguarding Amazonian Stingless Bees,
Guardians of Biodiversity
Indigenous Traditional Knowledge: Cornerstone of Amazonas Biodiversity Conservation
Amazonian stingless bees have been integral to ecological, social, and cultural practices among Peruvian Amazon communities for centuries. An essential part of this project is to promote the preservation of the traditional knowledge of Amazonian communities on biodiversity management.
Over the past two years, Earth Law Center has actively participated in expeditions led by Amazon Research International in direct collaboration with the EcoAsháninka communal reserve and SERNANP, where activities have been carried out to map native stingless bee populations and workshops focused on the Rights of Nature and the documentation of traditional Indigenous knowledge.
Raising awareness of Stingless Bees and the cultural link with Indigenous Communities.
The recent adoption of Law No. 32235 in Perú represents a key moment in the legal recognition of Nature. Championed by the Earth Law Center and Amazon Research Internacional, this groundbreaking reform formally acknowledges stingless bees as a species of national interest for the first time. This crucial legal shift serves to highlight these essential pollinators, moving them from being overlooked in environmental policy to being recognized as pillars of biodiversity and granting their indispensable role in ecosystem health.
This legal foundation is a platform for community-led protection. It enables the development of Biocultural Community Protocols (BCPs), empowering Indigenous communities to safeguard their traditional knowledge. These protocols are core instruments to formally documenting and protecting governance systems and ancestral wisdom that have sustained Nature for generations.
In a landmark application of this new framework, Earth Law Center and Amazon Research Internacional are collaborating directly with Asháninka Communities of the Satipo Province, Perú. Together, we are developing a Biocultural Community Protocol to legally safeguard their ancestral knowledge regarding the care and conservation of stingless bees. This mechanism ensures their irreplaceable wisdom is not only respected but also integrated into the process of environmental stewardship.
From Knowledge to Action: Forging the First Declaration of Rights for Stingless Bees
Our long-term engagement with Indigenous communities continued to deepen throughout 2025. Following the foundational work of 2024, which participated 114 Indigenous People across 8 activities, including talks, surveys, and a painting workshop, we aim to intensify our efforts. In 2025, we conducted a series of 10 workshops across more than 8 communities in Perú and Bolivia. These gatherings engaged over 150 participants, with a strong emphasis on women participation to ensure inclusive and diverse perspectives.
This collaborative exchange of knowledge yielded a key outcome: the creation of the first-ever Declaration of Rights for Native Stingless Bees. This landmark document recognizes the inherent rights of these pollinators, including their right to exist, to maintain healthy populations, to restore their habitats, and to live in a pollution-free environment, among others.
Recently, in a groundbreaking effort to preserve Perú's biocultural heritage, the provincial municipality of Satipo adopted this Declaration through a formal municipal ordinance, integrating it into local law and establishing a powerful precedent for other regions to follow.
Partners
Amazon Research Internacional, EcoAsháninka Communal Reserve,
National Service of Protected Natural Areas of Perú (SERNANP)
Additional resources on the Stingless Bees
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Avaaz Campaign “Rights for Stingless Bees”
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Press Article on bees expedition 2025 (English)
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Perú's Bee Law reform (No. 32235) (Spanish)
Header Photo: Unsplash / Madeline Hogan; Footer Photo: Unsplash / Hans Luiggi