- Environmental Conservation ·
Protecting Jaguars and Biodiversity in the Rainforest
To rescue, rehabilitate, and release apex predators and endangered species back into the Guatemalan rainforest while empowering local communities through conservation education to ensure long-term ecosystem health.
- Guatemala
- hello@actionchange.org
Project Summary
Project Challenge
Project Solution
Impact
Reports
Project Summary
In the heart of the Northern Jungles, one of the last strongholds for the jaguar is under threat. Our project operates a world-class wildlife sanctuary dedicated to the “Rescue, Rehab, and Release” of animals displaced by illegal trade and habitat loss. By providing expert veterinary care and specialized rehabilitation, we return keystone species to the wild. Simultaneously, we lead education programs that transform local perceptions of wildlife, turning neighbors into protectors of the forest’s rich biodiversity
Project Challenge
The rainforests of Guatemala are disappearing at an alarming rate due to illegal ranching, wildfires, and agricultural expansion. As their habitat shrinks, jaguars and other wildlife are increasingly forced into conflict with humans or captured for the illegal pet trade. Many animals—often orphans—arrive at our gates malnourished, injured, or traumatised. Without a specialised facility to provide medical care and “re-wilding” training, these animals have no hope of returning to their natural roles, leading to a collapse of the local ecosystem
Project Solution
We provide a comprehensive three-stage solution:
Rescue & Veterinary Care: Operating a 24/7 clinic to treat confiscated and injured wildlife, including high-stakes species like jaguars, scarlet macaws, and spider monkeys.
Specialized Rehabilitation: Using large, secluded jungle enclosures that minimize human contact, ensuring animals retain their wild instincts and hunting skills.
Education & Release: We conduct “hard-releases” into protected core zones and run mobile education units in surrounding villages to reduce human-wildlife conflict and stop the demand for illegal pets.
Impact
By supporting this project, you are directly funding the survival of the jaguar a keystone species whose presence regulates the entire rainforest food web.
Species Recovery: Each successful release strengthens the genetic diversity of wild populations.
Ecosystem Health: Protecting predators ensures the health of the flora and smaller fauna across thousands of hectares.
Community Shift: We aim to reach over 1,000 students and community members annually, fostering a generation that values a standing forest and its wild inhabitants over short-term exploitation.
Reports
Project Report | Oct 7, 2026
Huge growth in support
By William Day | Impact and Operations Officer
Dear friends, donors, and interested people, As I logged onto GlobalGiving today to write this report and compare the current status of this project to when the last report was published in June I realised the incredible progress we’ve made together. Our 4 incredible monthly donors have continued their generous commitment and the total number of donors to this project has increased from 633 (already a fantastic number) to 911 – wow! Furthermore, the total raised has exploded from ~$40,000 to just over $60,000! This is a real success story for Action Change and our partner in the Amazon; it makes me so proud of every single one of our donors that you can all come together and make such an incredible difference to our beautiful natural world. Thanks to your generosity and altruism, we have now acheived 80% of our total funding goal for the project. Success stories like this motivate everyone at Action Change to keep pushing through, even when donations are low and times are hard. After all, if we can succeed in this project why can’t we succeed all over the world? Thank you again from the bottom of my heart to all of our donors, especially those who commit every month and believe in our vision.
Project Report | Jun 9, 2026
14 Years of Guarding the Rainforest
By Tyrone Bennett | CEO of Action Change
Hello Friends and Amazon lovers!
Jaguars, along with other amazing wildlife, are still threatened with extinction in the Amazon rainforest. A number of massive issues threaten the Amazon, including human conflict, unethical tourism, deforestation, poaching, illegal hunting, climate change and disruption of the natural food chain. With so much of the Amazon being lost so quickly, habitats are close to becoming extinct and many plants are being lost that could provide potential medical cures.
But through research and education, we can help promote these amazing animals to the locals and help them take ownership in ensuring they are protected. This will not only impact our environment but will also create local income through regular tourism to visit these animals. Alongside this, we aim to fund critical conservation research to influence leaders to act now before it is too late. We only have one chance and that is now!
And guess what? Because of your incredible support, the forest still fights. Do you remember that beautiful, playful jaguar cub we spotted trailing its mother on a newly secured wildlife corridor in Peru? That rare camera trap footage proved that every action we take together helps the forest heal.
Over the last few months, you’ve helped us achieve a living legacy of trees with our reforestation initiative, brilliant new discoveries with dozens of new camera traps, and education that plants seeds of change for over 300 students. Local community patrol teams have even helped stop illegal logging operations! We are building a model of conservation led by the people who call the Amazon home.
And now, we are absolutely thrilled to say that after 14 years of conservation work, we are not slowing down!
It all began with our small hub in Costa Rica, then we expanded into Peru, and today we are excited to announce that we are expanding again into Guatemala!
This comes after many months in the background of working closely with a small community of committed, locally trained conservationists. They have set up an incredible rainforest sanctuary and rescued many jaguars, parrots and other at-risk wildlife but they are struggling. With our new partnership, we will help this fantastic team build a stronger rehab and release program and help continue to monitor and protect the wider biodiversity while sharing our raw data with national and international influencers. Our mission remains exactly the same: to ensure our jaguars and wildlife remain free and safe in their natural environment!
We are launching this project at a time when donations are down globally and people are being pushed into poverty, making life just that little more challenging. However, we are equipped and ready to go!
This is all because of YOU and the other 633 wonderful people that over the past 14 years donated to our amazing project. Together we have invested just over $40,000 and this really has been life-changing. We never thought we would be able to expand as much as we have when we started out in Costa Rica, and it is all down to you.
We also want to give a massive shout-out to our 4 star donors who donate to us monthly. Your donations have allowed us to put down some stable impact. The biggest gift for us is moving away from panic ad-hoc fundraising to regular donors who allow us to continue our work and plan for the future.
But this doesn’t mean we don’t need and love the support every single donation brings us! We are so excited to be joining in the upcoming GlobalGiving bonus day this July. It is a great day for us all to share our project and story on socials and with friends and family because all donations on the 15th of July for 24 hours over $100 will be part match funded! This is a brilliant opportunity for us to do some exciting fundraising as we launch our next chapter. A donation of $20 keeps our cameras going for 6 weeks, so every bit helps!
Thank you so much for walking into the jungle with us every day. You give us hope, and you tell that little jaguar cub that the world hasn’t given up yet!
Until next time, thank you for supporting and following our work!
Project Report: March 2026
A New Horizon: From the Amazon to the Mayan Jungles
Dear Friends and Conservation Allies,
We are writing to you today with hearts full of pride and eyes fixed on a new horizon. The last few months have been a whirlwind of transition, milestone achievements, and the beginning of what we believe is our most ambitious chapter yet.
A Legacy Secured in the Amazon
We are thrilled to share some incredible news regarding our work in Brazil and Peru. As of December 2025, our Amazon project reached a “gold standard” milestone: Full Community Ownership. Thanks to your years of support, the local patrol teams and reforestation initiatives have become so robust and well-funded by local stakeholders that they no longer require our daily management. We have officially handed the keys to the local leaders who have lived in these forests for generations. While we remain as mentors and continue our monthly check-ins, the project is now a self-sustaining model of grassroots conservation.
A New Mission: The Northern Jungles of Guatemala
With the Amazon project successfully thriving on its own, our team turned its gaze toward an urgent call for help in Central America. In January 2026, our CEO visited a specialized rescue and rehabilitation centre tucked deep within the Guatemalan rainforest.
What they found was a team of heroes working against the clock to save the region’s most iconic species from the illegal wildlife trade and habitat fragmentation. We knew immediately that this was where our next chapter belonged.
What’s Next: Protecting the Spirit of the Maya
We are officially launching our new project: Protecting Jaguars and Biodiversity in the Rainforest. While our previous work focused heavily on corridors and camera traps, this new initiative takes a hands-on, clinical approach to wildlife survival.
Our focus has now evolved to include:
Rescue & Critical Care: Operating a high-tech wildlife hospital for animals confiscated from the black market.
Rehabilitation for Release: Teaching orphaned jaguars and primates the skills they need to hunt and survive so they can return to the wild—not a life in a cage.
The Next Generation of Guardians: Building a massive educational outreach program to ensure the local community sees the rainforest as their greatest asset.
The Journey Ahead
Transitioning from the vast Amazon to the dense, biodiversity-rich jungles of Guatemala is a bold step, but it is one we take with confidence because we have you by our side. We aren’t just saving animals; we are preserving the biological heartbeat of the Americas.
Thank you for standing with us as we move from a successful legacy in the South to a vital new beginning in the North. The jungle is calling, and we are ready.
With gratitude,
________________________________________________
Footprints in the Forest: Hope for the Amazon
By Jackie and The Team | Science & Community Officer November 2025
Dear Friends and Amazon lovers! In the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, where emerald canopies stretch endlessly and rivers wind like silver threads through the forest, something extraordinary happened… A jaguar cub—playful, alert, full of life—was spotted trailing its mother on a newly secured wildlife corridor. Captured on one of our camera traps, this rare footage is more than just a glimpse of a beautiful animal. It’s a sign that the forest still breathes. And thanks to your support, it’s a sign that it still fights. While threats like deforestation, poaching, and illegal logging continue to carve deep wounds into this ancient ecosystem, every action we take together helps the forest heal. In the Last Few Months, You’ve Helped Us Achieve:- A Living Legacy of Trees – Our reforestation initiative is now underway, aiming to restore over 500 hectares of degraded forest. These growing trees will one day shelter wildlife, protect river systems, and slow the grip of climate change.
- New Discoveries in the Wild – Dozens of new camera traps are giving us critical insight into jaguar behavior and movement, helping scientists tailor protection strategies with precision and urgency.
- Education that Plants Seeds of Change – Over 300 students in local schools have now taken part in our environmental education workshops. These young minds are learning to see the jaguar not as a threat, but as a symbol of balance and pride.
- Community-Led Protection – Local patrol teams, made up of passionate residents, have helped stop illegal logging operations. These are everyday heroes defending the forest that has sustained their communities for generations.
In the heart of the Northern Jungles, one of the last strongholds for the jaguar is under threat. Our project operates a world-class wildlife sanctuary dedicated to the “Rescue, Rehab, and Release” of animals displaced by illegal trade and habitat loss. By providing expert veterinary care and specialized rehabilitation, we return keystone species to the wild. Simultaneously, we lead education programs that transform local perceptions of wildlife, turning neighbors into protectors of the forest’s rich biodiversity
The rainforests of Guatemala are disappearing at an alarming rate due to illegal ranching, wildfires, and agricultural expansion. As their habitat shrinks, jaguars and other wildlife are increasingly forced into conflict with humans or captured for the illegal pet trade. Many animals—often orphans—arrive at our gates malnourished, injured, or traumatised. Without a specialised facility to provide medical care and “re-wilding” training, these animals have no hope of returning to their natural roles, leading to a collapse of the local ecosystem
We provide a comprehensive three-stage solution:
Rescue & Veterinary Care: Operating a 24/7 clinic to treat confiscated and injured wildlife, including high-stakes species like jaguars, scarlet macaws, and spider monkeys.
Specialized Rehabilitation: Using large, secluded jungle enclosures that minimize human contact, ensuring animals retain their wild instincts and hunting skills.
Education & Release: We conduct “hard-releases” into protected core zones and run mobile education units in surrounding villages to reduce human-wildlife conflict and stop the demand for illegal pets.
By supporting this project, you are directly funding the survival of the jaguar a keystone species whose presence regulates the entire rainforest food web.
Species Recovery: Each successful release strengthens the genetic diversity of wild populations.
Ecosystem Health: Protecting predators ensures the health of the flora and smaller fauna across thousands of hectares.
Community Shift: We aim to reach over 1,000 students and community members annually, fostering a generation that values a standing forest and its wild inhabitants over short-term exploitation.
Project Report | Oct 7, 2026
Huge growth in support
By William Day | Impact and Operations Officer
Dear friends, donors, and interested people, As I logged onto GlobalGiving today to write this report and compare the current status of this project to when the last report was published in June I realised the incredible progress we’ve made together. Our 4 incredible monthly donors have continued their generous commitment and the total number of donors to this project has increased from 633 (already a fantastic number) to 911 – wow! Furthermore, the total raised has exploded from ~$40,000 to just over $60,000! This is a real success story for Action Change and our partner in the Amazon; it makes me so proud of every single one of our donors that you can all come together and make such an incredible difference to our beautiful natural world. Thanks to your generosity and altruism, we have now acheived 80% of our total funding goal for the project. Success stories like this motivate everyone at Action Change to keep pushing through, even when donations are low and times are hard. After all, if we can succeed in this project why can’t we succeed all over the world? Thank you again from the bottom of my heart to all of our donors, especially those who commit every month and believe in our vision.
Project Report | Jun 9, 2026
14 Years of Guarding the Rainforest
By Tyrone Bennett | CEO of Action Change
Hello Friends and Amazon lovers!
Jaguars, along with other amazing wildlife, are still threatened with extinction in the Amazon rainforest. A number of massive issues threaten the Amazon, including human conflict, unethical tourism, deforestation, poaching, illegal hunting, climate change and disruption of the natural food chain. With so much of the Amazon being lost so quickly, habitats are close to becoming extinct and many plants are being lost that could provide potential medical cures.
But through research and education, we can help promote these amazing animals to the locals and help them take ownership in ensuring they are protected. This will not only impact our environment but will also create local income through regular tourism to visit these animals. Alongside this, we aim to fund critical conservation research to influence leaders to act now before it is too late. We only have one chance and that is now!
And guess what? Because of your incredible support, the forest still fights. Do you remember that beautiful, playful jaguar cub we spotted trailing its mother on a newly secured wildlife corridor in Peru? That rare camera trap footage proved that every action we take together helps the forest heal.
Over the last few months, you’ve helped us achieve a living legacy of trees with our reforestation initiative, brilliant new discoveries with dozens of new camera traps, and education that plants seeds of change for over 300 students. Local community patrol teams have even helped stop illegal logging operations! We are building a model of conservation led by the people who call the Amazon home.
And now, we are absolutely thrilled to say that after 14 years of conservation work, we are not slowing down!
It all began with our small hub in Costa Rica, then we expanded into Peru, and today we are excited to announce that we are expanding again into Guatemala!
This comes after many months in the background of working closely with a small community of committed, locally trained conservationists. They have set up an incredible rainforest sanctuary and rescued many jaguars, parrots and other at-risk wildlife but they are struggling. With our new partnership, we will help this fantastic team build a stronger rehab and release program and help continue to monitor and protect the wider biodiversity while sharing our raw data with national and international influencers. Our mission remains exactly the same: to ensure our jaguars and wildlife remain free and safe in their natural environment!
We are launching this project at a time when donations are down globally and people are being pushed into poverty, making life just that little more challenging. However, we are equipped and ready to go!
This is all because of YOU and the other 633 wonderful people that over the past 14 years donated to our amazing project. Together we have invested just over $40,000 and this really has been life-changing. We never thought we would be able to expand as much as we have when we started out in Costa Rica, and it is all down to you.
We also want to give a massive shout-out to our 4 star donors who donate to us monthly. Your donations have allowed us to put down some stable impact. The biggest gift for us is moving away from panic ad-hoc fundraising to regular donors who allow us to continue our work and plan for the future.
But this doesn’t mean we don’t need and love the support every single donation brings us! We are so excited to be joining in the upcoming GlobalGiving bonus day this July. It is a great day for us all to share our project and story on socials and with friends and family because all donations on the 15th of July for 24 hours over $100 will be part match funded! This is a brilliant opportunity for us to do some exciting fundraising as we launch our next chapter. A donation of $20 keeps our cameras going for 6 weeks, so every bit helps!
Thank you so much for walking into the jungle with us every day. You give us hope, and you tell that little jaguar cub that the world hasn’t given up yet!
Until next time, thank you for supporting and following our work!
Project Report: March 2026
A New Horizon: From the Amazon to the Mayan Jungles
Dear Friends and Conservation Allies,
We are writing to you today with hearts full of pride and eyes fixed on a new horizon. The last few months have been a whirlwind of transition, milestone achievements, and the beginning of what we believe is our most ambitious chapter yet.
A Legacy Secured in the Amazon
We are thrilled to share some incredible news regarding our work in Brazil and Peru. As of December 2025, our Amazon project reached a “gold standard” milestone: Full Community Ownership. Thanks to your years of support, the local patrol teams and reforestation initiatives have become so robust and well-funded by local stakeholders that they no longer require our daily management. We have officially handed the keys to the local leaders who have lived in these forests for generations. While we remain as mentors and continue our monthly check-ins, the project is now a self-sustaining model of grassroots conservation.
A New Mission: The Northern Jungles of Guatemala
With the Amazon project successfully thriving on its own, our team turned its gaze toward an urgent call for help in Central America. In January 2026, our CEO visited a specialized rescue and rehabilitation centre tucked deep within the Guatemalan rainforest.
What they found was a team of heroes working against the clock to save the region’s most iconic species from the illegal wildlife trade and habitat fragmentation. We knew immediately that this was where our next chapter belonged.
What’s Next: Protecting the Spirit of the Maya
We are officially launching our new project: Protecting Jaguars and Biodiversity in the Rainforest. While our previous work focused heavily on corridors and camera traps, this new initiative takes a hands-on, clinical approach to wildlife survival.
Our focus has now evolved to include:
Rescue & Critical Care: Operating a high-tech wildlife hospital for animals confiscated from the black market.
Rehabilitation for Release: Teaching orphaned jaguars and primates the skills they need to hunt and survive so they can return to the wild—not a life in a cage.
The Next Generation of Guardians: Building a massive educational outreach program to ensure the local community sees the rainforest as their greatest asset.
The Journey Ahead
Transitioning from the vast Amazon to the dense, biodiversity-rich jungles of Guatemala is a bold step, but it is one we take with confidence because we have you by our side. We aren’t just saving animals; we are preserving the biological heartbeat of the Americas.
Thank you for standing with us as we move from a successful legacy in the South to a vital new beginning in the North. The jungle is calling, and we are ready.
With gratitude,
________________________________________________
Footprints in the Forest: Hope for the Amazon
By Jackie and The Team | Science & Community Officer November 2025
Dear Friends and Amazon lovers! In the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, where emerald canopies stretch endlessly and rivers wind like silver threads through the forest, something extraordinary happened… A jaguar cub—playful, alert, full of life—was spotted trailing its mother on a newly secured wildlife corridor. Captured on one of our camera traps, this rare footage is more than just a glimpse of a beautiful animal. It’s a sign that the forest still breathes. And thanks to your support, it’s a sign that it still fights. While threats like deforestation, poaching, and illegal logging continue to carve deep wounds into this ancient ecosystem, every action we take together helps the forest heal. In the Last Few Months, You’ve Helped Us Achieve:- A Living Legacy of Trees – Our reforestation initiative is now underway, aiming to restore over 500 hectares of degraded forest. These growing trees will one day shelter wildlife, protect river systems, and slow the grip of climate change.
- New Discoveries in the Wild – Dozens of new camera traps are giving us critical insight into jaguar behavior and movement, helping scientists tailor protection strategies with precision and urgency.
- Education that Plants Seeds of Change – Over 300 students in local schools have now taken part in our environmental education workshops. These young minds are learning to see the jaguar not as a threat, but as a symbol of balance and pride.
- Community-Led Protection – Local patrol teams, made up of passionate residents, have helped stop illegal logging operations. These are everyday heroes defending the forest that has sustained their communities for generations.
Related posts
- Environmental Conservation ·