Report on Kayapo Territorial
Monitoring and Control
Territorial surveillance is the shield behind which other programs of conservation and development can grow.
Summary
We are pleased to report that over nine million hectares (23 million acres) of Kayapo forest territory held strong for a fourth year despite the relentless attacks on the forest and its indigenous people during Bolsonaro’s government. This result would not have been possible without philanthropic support
In 2022 the government continued their campaign to destabilize indigenous organizations with the objective of removing barriers to occupation of indigenous
territory by logging, mining, soy plantations, and ranching. The three Kayapo NGOs are among the highest functioning indigenous NGOs in Brazil and
together protect the largest continuous tract of indigenous territory.
Kayapo territory held. Kayapo NGO programs operated in full last year including trade in Brazil nut and cumaru nut, the AUkre international field course, sportfishing on the Xingu and Iriri rivers, territorial management planning (PGATI), and REDD carbon project planning -with the crucial territorial surveillance program continuing to run uninterrupted. The government’s anti-indigenous, anti-environmental campaign ultimately proved unsuccessful in Kayapo territory due to the competence and unfailing commitment of the three Kayapo NGOs.
Kakakuben Guard Post
Monitoring the Pitxaxa river
Overflight
Photos of the P14 goldmining site in northeastern TI Kayapo.
New Guard Posts
The newly constructed Kororoti/Pijaramej guard post on the midwestern border of TI Menkragnoti.
Guard Posts
Fifteen guard border posts operated from six to eight months in 2022.
Under increasing pressure from goldminers and loggers emboldened by the government’s anti indigenous rhetoric and lax enforcement, the surveillance program expanded in 2022 with the addition of four new guard posts.
Expeditions
Kayapo expeditions fill gaps where guard post patrols cannot reach.
Four expeditions organized by the
Kayapos NGOs in 2022 served to:
(i) expel goldminers from two sites in
the interior of Bau territory,
(ii) survey 200 km of the Riozinho
river, (iii) mark Kayapo presence
in the interior of vast TI Menkragnoti
and clear an access track to a
remote community there.
Overflights
Overflights are used to verify,
photograph, and monitor invasions.
Three overflights were organized in 2022 by Associação Floresta Protegida and Instituto Kabu. These overflights were aimed at monitoring on potential goldming operations.
Results
The major result to report is that by the end of 2022, with all NGO programs operating and territorial surveillance expanded, 2,200 km (1,365 miles) of border held for the most part and over nine million hectares (23 million acres) of Kayapo territory remains largely intact.
Map: The state of the 10.6 million hectare block of ratified Kayapo Indigenous territory in January 2022. Kayapo indigenous territories are outlined in yellow (NGO Kayapo project territory) with an eastern band of ~ 1.2 million hectares outlined in purple (does not form part of this project) that receives no conservation NGO investment and has been lost to the frontier of illegal activity (logging and mining).
