THE SHANENAWA PEOPLE
In the heart of the Amazon rainforest, 115 hectares separate the town of Feijó and the Shanenawa People (“People of the Blue Bird”). This piece of land known as “Brasilia” acts as a green buffer, separating the Shanenawa from Western civilization. “Brasilia” recently put up for sale threatened the future of the Shanenawa People and their way of life. Mothers of the Amazon supported the Shanenawa People in regaining this ancestral Indigenous land and securing it in perpetuity for the Shanenawa People and future generations.
INDIGENOUS-LED RAINFOREST CONSERVATION INITIATIVE
SAFEGUARDING THE MOST BIODIVERSE AREAS ON EARTH
The Indigenous Led Rainforest Conservation Initiative seeks to protect some of the highest biodiversity areas on Earth by implementing an innovative Indigenous-led conservation approach that gives back land ownership of 14 highly endangered biodiversity hotspots to the Indigenous communities who have historically protected these areas. Totaling over 330,000 hectares of primary rainforest (approximately 60 times the size of Manhattan), these hotspots are adjacent or in close proximity to Indigenous demarcated territories and located within the largest contiguous territories and population of Uncontacted Communities in the world in the state of Acre, Brazil.
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In close collaboration with 6 Indigenous Associations, One Small Planet, the Global Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution and the University of São Paulo, this initiative aims to effectively safeguard the rights and empower 9 Indigenous Peoples to manage their ancestral territories, preserve their ways of life and protect their endangered Uncontacted Communities.
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Mothers of the Amazon, has secured 2 ancestral lands for the Shanenawa and the Huni Kuin Peoples that are now held in perpetuity by local Indigenous associations representing the Shanenawa and the Huni Kuin. We are in the process of securing additional lands that are under immediate threat from mining, logging and carbon credit developers to support the Indigenous communities affected by these sales and help them protect their ancestral territories.