Las Meliponicultoras: Empowering indigenous women leaders through stingless beekeeping

Across the Peruvian Amazon, a quiet revolution is taking place—bringing together women, men, and youth, guided by ancestral knowledge, and powered by some of the rainforest’s smallest yet most essential inhabitants: stingless bees.

While the program welcomes everyone, it has created a rare and transformative space for women to step into leadership roles in conservation, science, and sustainable economies, especially in areas where such opportunities have long been scarce.

Miceala Humman, an indigenous leader and stingless beekeeping trainer.

Las Meliponicultoras, the Indigenous beekeepers of the Amazon, are guardians of both biodiversity and culture. Through Amazon Research Internacional’s work, women, men and youth from Ashaninka and Kukama-kukamiria communities are learning sustainable stingless beekeeping practices that not only protect these critical pollinators but also generate income, restore forests, and strengthen cultural identity.

Stingless bees (Meliponini) have thrived in the Amazon for over 80 million years, co-evolving with its plants and playing a crucial role in pollinating native crops and wild flora. Their honey, prized for medicinal and ceremonial uses, holds deep cultural significance. Yet deforestation, habitat loss, and invasive species threaten their survival. Until recently, stingless bees were absent from conservation policy in Peru.

Kukama-kukamiria youth learning how to harvest honey in Loreto

Ashaninka women learning how to manage stingless bee hives

In late 2024, that changed. Working with Indigenous leaders, scientists, and policymakers, our science and cultural studies inspired the creation of Law 32335, the first national legislation to protect stingless bees in Peru. But laws alone cannot safeguard biodiversity – people must be at the heart of conservation.

That’s where Las Meliponicultoras come in. These women, men and youth are transforming their communities by:

• Protecting native pollinators through the creation of bee sanctuaries—safe spaces where species like Melipona eburnea and Tetragonisca angustula can thrive.
• Restoring ecosystems by planting medicinal and nectar-rich plants, ensuring year-round food for bees and other wildlife.
• Generating sustainable incomes through honey and propolis products, eco-tourism, and educational workshops.
• Preserving ancestral knowledge by passing on traditional beekeeping techniques – such as the Ashaninka method of non-destructive hive transfer – to younger generations.

One of the most powerful outcomes of this work is the shift in women’s roles. In many communities, women have historically been excluded from decision-making about land and resources. Now, more than 350 Indigenous women across seven communities lead their own honey enterprises, manage restoration projects, and represent their people in national and international conservation forums, including COP16.

The impact is both ecological and social. Healthy bee populations improve pollination for native crops like camu camu, boosting food security. Reforested areas capture carbon, helping combat climate change. And women’s economic independence strengthens community resilience.

But Las Meliponicultoras are also sending a message to the world: that Indigenous-led conservation is not only possible, it is essential. By combining rigorous science with cultural wisdom, they are creating a model that other regions can adapt, one that values biodiversity, equity, and cultural survival equally.

The hum of stingless bees in the Amazon is more than a sound of nature, it’s the sound of Indigenous people and women reclaiming their voices, forests reclaiming their health, and cultures reclaiming their future.

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Heriberto Vela, a stingless bee expert and trainer, from the Loreto region Peru with honey from Melipona eburnea