Lands formally controlled by Brazil’s native peoples have played an unheralded yet critical role in protecting the Brazilian Amazon from encroachment, particularly in southern and eastern states on the frontiers of agricultural development.
More than 80 percent of Brazil’s 441 indigenous reserves are found in the Amazon. Covering a total of almost 390,000 square miles, these collectively represent a much larger area than the region’s complement of nationally protected areas or extractive reserves—and can be equally, if not more, effective at conserving biodiversity.
A powerful example is the 25-million-acre Kayapó Reserve. Located in the threatened southeastern Amazon, the reserve has remained intact despite now being almost entirely surrounded by roads, cattle ranches and farms.
CI has worked with the Kayapó Indians for 13 years, initially with one of the Kayapó’s 12 village communities to establish a local research station. This brought much needed income to the community and eliminated the need to log mahogany. The success of the collaboration encouraged the remaining Kayapó villages to partner with CI, both on economic initiatives and on projects to strengthen the reserve’s territorial patrol and surveillance.
CI-Kayapó Project Director Barbara Zimmerman says supporting indigenous reserves makes good sense. “Reserve communities are natural conservation allies. Population densities in these regions are very low, lessening the impact of subsistence fishing and hunting. Moreover, most indigenous peoples have a culture of sustainability and fight hard to protect their lands from invasion and deforestation by ranchers and colonists.”
Recent satellite images provided by the Brazilian government bear this out. These show indigenous reserves suffering less deforestation than other types of protected areas in the Amazon. Notes Zimmerman, “With an enthusiastic cadre of ‘rangers’ to police reserve borders, indigenous communities are proving to be a powerful force for conservation in the region.”
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