Territorial Surveillance of Kayapo Land
At 10.5 million hectares, the five contiguous Kayapo territories form possibly the largest officially protected tract of tropical forest in the world. Kayapo territories are almost completely surrounded by the lawless frontier and are, therefore, under constant threat of invasion by outsiders seeking more land for ranching and access to rich timber and mineral resources. The Kayapo must monitor more than 2,000 km of border.
A team prepares for a surveillance expedition on the Xingu River
Outside economic pressure combined with lack of governance in the region and the immense size of the area to be monitored overwhelm capacity of communities to control their borders independently. Therefore, our group of collaborating organizations provides support to help the Kayapo protect their land rights under the constitution of Brazil. View NASA images of fires from forest clearing surrounding the Kayapo territory >
The National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) is the federal government agency responsible for upholding the rights of indigenous peoples in Brazil. However, FUNAI receives funding that is inadequate for the scope of their mandate. Our NGOs, therefore, contribute resources to help the Kayapo protect their lands in collaboration with the legal authority FUNAI. This program has led to decreased invasion incidence.
We support:
- Training in surveillance techniques;
- Provision of equipment, fuel and supplies for patrol expeditions;
- GIS remote analysis;
- Over-flight verification; and,
- Strategy setting and consensus building meetings of Kayapo leaders.
- Xingu River Basin: Protected Areas Corridor and Deforestation through 2006
The red and orange areas on this map show areas of deforestation. The light green areas are all Indigenous Territories, and the green hatched areas indicate other types of protected areas, such as Extractive Reserves. The heavy black lines are main roads and the blue lines are rivers.