Deep in the southeastern Amazon, the Kayapó people live with the imminent threat of deforestation of their primary ecosystem. Since 2017, the rate of illegal gold mining in the region has increased by 90%, destroying the forests around their home. Barbara Zimmerman, director of The Kayapo Project, helps establish NGO alliances with the Kayapó people to support them in preserving their traditional land against exploitation.
The Kayapó have official rights to over 10 and a half million hectares of pristine Amazon forest. With the assistance of The Kayapo Project, sustainable enterprises have been put in place to protect Kayapó territory from invasion. Through a surveillance programme, community members are put in charge of securing their land from loggers and miners. Organising shifts at guard posts at key access points, the Kayapó have an upper hand in protecting the lungs of the Earth against trespassers.
“Without indigenous people protecting their lands and their way of life, the wave of deforestation which is sweeping across the Amazon would have destroyed a lot more forest,” Zimmerman says. Working in collaboration with her initiative and other NGOs, the Kayapó community is better equipped to conserve the land that is rightfully theirs. “The Kayapó protect their traditional territory which benefits them, which supports their livelihoods and their culture, but also benefits all of humanity,” Zimmerman says.
You can contribute to the work of The Kayapo Project here.
Footage and photos by John Meisner, Martin Schoeller, and The Kayapo Project were used in the creation of this film.
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