Kayapo Territorial Surveillance 2024
In 2024, a remarkable Amazon success story continued to unfold despite the wildfire, and smoke that darkened Amazonian skies. The Kayapo People stood strong, protecting over nine million hectares (23 million acres) of their forest territory. This achievement stands as a testament to decades of Kayapo resistance, institution-building, and sustained philanthropic support.
The cornerstone of this ongoing success is the Kayapo Territorial Surveillance program. This program plays a vital role in safeguarding their constitutionally recognized lands from immediate threats like illegal logging, gold-mining, and fishing. Through this effort, other conservation projects flourish, and the integrity of their territory remains intact.
Defending the Land
Photo: Takakrua Kayapo
More than 1600 Kayapo Guardians from 71 villages representing 3 Indigenous Associations participated in 2024.
The vastness and remoteness of Kayapo territory make its protection a formidable challenge. To confront this, the Kayapo and their allies have established guard posts at vulnerable entry points, serving as deterrents against illegal incursions. These posts signal to outside society that the Kayapo are organized and determined to defend their land rights.
Guard post teams typically consist of five or six Kayapo members from a single community, rotating weekly, biweekly, or monthly depending on logistical challenges. In 2024, 16 border guard posts operated for five to seven months, maintaining the integrity of Kayapo territory.
Sixteen Kayapo Guard Posts strategically monitor 80 –90% of the Kayapo’s 2,200 km border.
Guard posts are built with huts for sleeping, cooking, storage, and a bathroom. Each post is equipped with a freezer, water pump, generator, water tower, parabolic antenna and television, and solar power. Transportation to and from the guard posts relies on boats along rivers and/ or 4×4 trucks at posts with road access. All posts are outfitted with satellite internet to facilitate logistics, delivery of a video education program, and safety. Post operation is supported by two non-Kayapo administrators responsible for controlling supplies of food and fuel and coordinating logistics with their regional Kayapo NGO. Following traditional Kayapo values of egalitarianism, Kayapo guard teams rotate weekly to maximize participation and benefits sharing. This system necessitates permanent post administrators to coordinate day-to-day logistics, supplies, equipment maintenance, and team rotation.
Each post costs approximately US$ 12,000 per month to operate. Given the vast area protected, the conservation return on this investment is unparalleled.
Guard Post Duties
Each guard post team undertakes numerous responsibilities:
- Checking authorization of any non-Kayapo individuals entering the territory
- Patrolling border sections in their assigned areas
- Maintaining the camp, gathering firewood, fishing, and building structures
- Opening and closing posts as needed
New in 2024
Guard posts also became hubs for education, using video-based curricula to empower Kayapo youth with knowledge about territorial protection and indigenous sovereignty.
Logistic Challenges
The work is not easy and several guard posts present exceptional logistical challenges:
- Iriri Post: Supplies must be transported over 600 km of rough dirt roads and a 10-hour boat ride, followed by a 50 km river journey.
- Raoni Post: Access requires traversing 500 km of bad roads, a three-hour boat trip, and navigation through a dangerous frontier region.
- Rio Vermelho Post: Supplying the Rio Vermelho post involves a three-day boat trip and a two-day, 40 km hike through forest and savanna.
- Pista Nova/Angme-e Post: Access requires a day-long boat ride and a 35 km forest trek.
Team following a trail in the forest affected by fire, Tepdjàti village, Kayapó Indigenous Territory, Pará, Brazil.
The state of the 10.6 million hectare block of ratified Kayapo Indigenous territory as of December 2024.
Kayapo indigenous territories (TI) are outlined in gray with an eastern band of ~ 1.2 million hectares outlined in purple that does not form part of this project so receives no conservation NGO investment and has, therefore, been lost to illegal logging and goldmining. Approximately 9.4 million hectares of Kayapo territory to the west of the interior purple border is protected with conservation and development investment and remains intact. Note the heavy presence of fire in 2024. Fire concentrated on the dry savanna patches and highly degraded forest along the eastern border (outlined in purple) that receives no conservation investment and does form part of the Kayapo project. Undisturbed forest remained largely unscathed.
Bringing supplies to Iriri guard post
Mining and logging outside the NGO alliance
The northeastern sector of Kayapo territory (TI Kayapo) showing the eastern band of territory (delineated in purple) where the Kayapo did not ally with the conservation NGOs and therefore has been heavily invaded by goldmining (red) and logging. Guard post locations are shown (green dots). The brown in Kayapo territory are patches of savanna (cerrado) on Brazilian shield rock. The tan colour outside Kayapo territory is deforestation for ranching.
Cumulative deforestation as of 1997 and 2023
Cumulative deforestation as of 1997 and 2023 in Kayapo territories Bau and Menkragnoti (dark green) that are represented by the Instituto Kabu. The buffer zone-study area is delimited by the purple line. Other Kayapo territories (TI Kayapo, TI Capoto/ Jarina, and TI Badjonkore) and the neighbouring Panara indigenous territory on the western border are marked in light green. Red and pink indicates deforestation.
Expeditions and Patrols
To complement guard activities the Kayapo undertake expeditions by foot, vehicle, or boat along and within the border. These patrols mark Kayapo presence and deter illegal incursions. Expeditions include weekly or bi-weekly patrols along rivers and longer surveys of remote areas. There are two types of expeditions:
– weekly or bi-weekly patrols by post teams along stretches of river, and
– expeditions of several days that survey areas not reached by guard posts.
Trekking to supply and rotate guards at the Angme-e guard post
2024 Results: Successes and Ongoing Challenges
Through their vigilance and coordinated efforts, the Kayapo resolved several longstanding territorial threats:
- Resolved in 2024: logging access at Kranbari on the north-western border of Menkragnoti TI
- Resolved in 2024: goldmining at the P14 site on near the northeastern border in TI Kayapo
- Resolved (in 2023): logging access at Kororoti on the western border
- Resolved (in 2023): goldmining at Pista Nova and Novo Horizonte locations in the interior of Bau territory
- Resolved (in 2023): goldmining at Cheiro just inside the northern border near the Iriri river
Despite these victories, two goldmining sites remain active and unresolved:
- Unresolved (active): goldmining at Pista Velha in TI Kayapo near the northeastern border
- Unresolved (active): a new goldmining site started in the interior of Bau TI
An overflight in July 2024 by the northeastern Kayapo NGO Protected Forest Association shows the Cheiro goldmine in the north remains inactive as the excavations are growing over with vegetation
