The future of the Amazon rainforest, plus the people and nature who call it home, hangs in the balance and its fate rests in the hands of each and every one of us

For millennia the Amazon rainforest, has supported the world with the ultimate ecological service: by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releasing water vapour and oxygen in return, the Amazon and its estimated 400 million trees have played a crucial role in stabilising the global climate and sustaining life on Earth.

But now the Amazon – on fire, under siege and on the brink of collapse – needs our help.

In 2019 man-made, deliberately set fires caused destruction in the Amazon on an unprecedented level. That was until the following year when, inconceivably, the infernos were more severe still. And now, exacerbated by drought, scientists fear 2021 could be even worse.

For a place that’s home to 10% of the world’s known species, as well as 34 million people including three million Indigenous People, the devastation is incomprehensible.

And if we lose the Amazon, we lose our fight against climate change...

Assunto: Incêndio florestal provocado - Floresta amazônica - Estação Ecológica do Cuniã
© Andre Dib

To date, more than 17% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed - an area the size of France

Some scientists warn losing just 5% more of the Amazon could push the rainforest beyond an irreversible tipping point

Aerial view of triggered forest fire on September 2020, in the Amazon Rainforest, Vilhena- Rondonia state. © Andre Dib / WWF-Brazil

Illegal deforestation found in the indigenous Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau territory. This area of deforestation was discovered on December 15th 2019 during the first surveillance made by the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau after the drone course funded by WWF's Amazon Emergency Appeal. © Marizilda Cruppe

If action is not taken now, 40% of the Amazon rainforest will be gone by 2050

A beautiful biome

in the balance

Waterfall, La Lindosa, near San José del Guaviare, Guaviare Department, Colombia. ©Luis Barreto

With every tree and every acre of the Amazon that is cut down, burned and destroyed, the rainforest is pushed closer to the brink of a precipice. To date, almost one fifth of the Amazon’s original forest cover has been razed. That equates to an area similar in size to France. And shockingly, some scientists estimate that if we lose just another 5%, the Amazon may go beyond an irreversible tipping point beyond which the rainforest will no longer be able to sustain itself.

Much of the once densely forested Amazon, could become a dry and degraded ecosystem. And not only will we lose the Amazon as we know it, but its tragic destruction also risks triggering catastrophic climate change across the globe that will affect us all.

Awapy Uru Eu Wau Wau and his wife Juwi Uru Eu Wau Wau are photographed at Kanindé Ethno-Environmental Defense Association in the surroundings of Porto Velho, Rondônia State, Brazil.© Marizilda Cruppe

But there is hope.
There is always hope.

And that reason for optimism lies in Indigenous Peoples, the vital custodians of the Amazon who are at the forefront of protecting and preserving it.

With their longstanding, deep-rooted traditions and invaluable knowledge of their forest home, Indigenous Peoples hold the key to safeguarding the Amazon and its nature for future generations.

But Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon are currently facing huge challenges, including land grabbing, illegal mining, deforestation and, more recently, Covid-19. All this is happening amid the backdrop of a combative Brazilian government, which, since it took power in 2019, has overseen immense destruction in the Amazon and authorised unprovoked aggression towards Indigenous Peoples.

In August 2021, the so-called 'land grab' bill was passed by Brazil's lower house of Congress. Critics argue this new law would provide amnesty for illicit invasions of public lands and could pave the way for increased destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

That’s why WWF is collaborating with local partners and organisations to support the rights of the communities and Indigenous Peoples who call the Amazon home.

Read their stories..

BITATÉ’S WORLD -
THE VOICe
OF THE AMAZON

Bitaté Uru-eu-wau-wau is not your average 21-year-old.

He is a father. An Indigenous leader. And a guardian of the Amazon rainforest. Belying his youth, Bitaté is president of the Uru-eu-wau-wau Indigenous People Association and his young shoulders bear the weight of immense responsibility. He is charged with protecting the Indigenous lands of his people, much like his father, grandfather and great ancestors did before him.

For context, the Uru-eu-wau-wau territory – which lies in the Brazilian Amazon in the state of Rondônia – measures 18,671 square kilometres (almost the size of Wales) and is considered one of the most important Indigenous territories within the state given its rich biodiversity and important freshwater sources. The vast Uru-eu-wau-wau territory is also hotbed for environmental crime, especially deforestation.

And as leader of his territory, Bitaté’s role does not come without peril. In April 2021, after reporting a recent land invasion, Bitaté received a death threat from a logger. “Mine is a situation of great vulnerability. Those people are not afraid of the law,” says Bitaté. Bitaté’s steadfast determination to protect his people’s land is inspired by an elder chief he admired when growing up. Bitaté says: “I've always wanted to be like him, and I believe that now it's my turn to do this protection, to be on the front lines. I am continuing the work of my ancestors.”

Deforestation rates have been higher under Jair Bolsonaro than any past president of Brazil. Acknowledging this, Bitaté says the Amazon has been ‘taken over by cattle’ and that the destruction of the rainforest and Indigenous territories has happened in the ‘blink of an eye’.

Bitaté Uru Eu Wau Wau, the president of the Uru Eu Wau Wau Idigenous People's Association, photographed at Aldeia Jamari, in the Uru Eu Wau Wau territory, Rondônia, Brazil. ©Marizilda Cruppe

Aerial view of deforestation and fire in the Amazon Rainforest surrounding the Uru-eu-wau-wau Indigenous Land, on september 2020, in Jaru, Rondonia state. © Andre Dib

In this photo: Jamari river. Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people took a WWF team to follow them in the surveillance of the territory to identify new invasions and deforestation. The expeditions to do the surveillance happen frequently and involve many people in the community. Indigenous people use boats and also walk on foot on paths hard to reach. A new tool is about to be used to monitor deforestation, invasion and land grabbing, a drone. The Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people received drone piloting training in a partnership between Kanindé Ethno-Environmental Defense Association and WWF. © Marizilda Cruppe

He adds: “It is as if there are no laws in Brazil. What is happening to Indigenous and traditional peoples, to forest peoples, is genocide.”

‍Unsurprisingly, he harbours deep concerns for the future, saying: “If deforestation and invasions continue at this rate, the collapse will not take long and, in the future, Brazil will not have a single tree standing.” Bitaté sees the biggest threats to the Amazon being land grabbing, illegal gold mining and logging, all of which are key drivers of deforestation.

“We Indigenous people feel threatened because we need to play a role in protecting the territory that is not played by the government. But let's keep fighting, until we manage to win this war.”

TXAI SURUI: A BORN ACTIVIST PROTECTING HER PEOPLE, THE AMAZON, THE WORLD

Txai Bandeira Surui is a young and inspirational Indigenous activist from Rondônia, Brazil, at the forefront of a pioneering, youth-led mission to protect the Amazon, her home and her fellow people.

At just 24, Txai (pronounced ‘chai’) – a member of the Paiter-Surui Indigenous group – carries an aura beyond her years and has already accrued a list of achievements that most would be proud to realise in a lifetime.

In between studying for a law degree, Txai founded the Indigenous Youth Movement of Rondônia, represents a youth-led social activism organisation, Engajamundo, and works for the legal team at Kanindé  Ethno-Environmental Defense
Association to defend Indigenous rights.

More recently, Txai joined hundreds of fellow Indigenous Peoples to protest on the streets of Brasilia against the government’s proposed laws that threaten to legalise land grabbing invasions on Indigenous territories in the Amazon.

Walelasoetxeige Paiter Bandeira Suruí, known as Txai Suruí, 24 years old, lives in Rondônia, Brazil, and is part of the Deliberative Council of the Kanindé Ethno-Environmental Defense Association. Daughter of the chief Almir Suruí and the indigenist Ivaneide Bandeira Cardozo, Walela Txai Suruí is an youth activist and law student who came to represent her people at the UN Climate Conference - COP25, in Madrid. She is also a young representative of the Guardians of the Forest, an alliance of communities that protects tropical forests around the world. © Mboakara Uru-eu-wau-wau / Kanindé

Walelasoetxeige Paiter Bandeira Suruí, known as Txai Suruí, 24 years old, lives in Rondônia, participates with more than 800 indigenous people from different 47 ethnic groups from all over Brazil are in the capital Brasília to set up the Rise for the Earth camp - Acampamento Levante pela Terra - in defense of their rights, especially the territorial ones, garanteed by the constitution. They protest against Bill 490/2007, to be voted by the Chamber’s main committee, that makes demarcations virtually impracticable and opens territories for predatory exploration by mining and agribusiness.
©Jacqueline Lisboa

The bravery of Txai’s activism is underlined by the fact her and her family were forced into hiding earlier in 2021 due to threats of violence against them from aggressive outsiders, land grabbers. However, despite such pressures, Txai remains unwavering in her commitment to her people, their rights and their ancestral lands.

“We are going to keep fighting for the forest, for our lives, and fighting for the Amazon,” says Txai. “To protect the forest, and Indigenous communities, is to protect the world’s future.

BITATÉ’S WORLD -
THE VOICE OF THE AMAZON

TXAI SURUI: A BORN ACTIVIST PROTECTING HER PEOPLE, THE AMAZON, THE WORLD

WWF helps connect Indigenous communities to the internet so they can better thwart land grabbers

In the heart of Brazil, on the eastern perimeter of the Amazon rainforest, lies Krenhyedjá village in the Kayapó Indigenous Land. The Indigenous people who live there reside in wooden buildings with palm-thatched roofs and rely on the forest and the river for food, medicine and sustenance.

Given its wild and remote setting, this is perhaps the last place on earth you might expect to have access to the modern wonder of the internet.

Yet, that is exactly what WWF has recently helped the people of Krenhyedjá, and other Indigenous and riverside communities, to achieve.

In partnership with the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA), WWF-Brazil has supported the installation of 12 internet points for Indigenous and traditional communities in the Amazon’s Xingu River Basin. This has directly benefitted eight Indigenous groups, comprising hundreds of people.

A mist covers the Aldeia Jamari in the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau indigenous land, Rondônia. © Marizilda Cruppe

Far from a luxury provision, the installation of satellite dishes in Krenhyedjá has offered the potential to save lives and better protect the Indigenous territory against environmental crimes.

The Kayapó Indigenous Land, like so many of the Amazon’s Indigenous territories, is under siege. Its people face a constant and increasing threat of invasion and violent conflict from illegal gold miners and loggers.

Previously, the people of Krenhyedjá could only respond to such threats by alerting Funai – Brazil’s governmental agency responsible for protecting Indigenous people – via radio. Radio, however, is slow and unreliable and only allows for short communications with no possibility of detailing the situation with photos or video.

O-é Paiakan Kayapó, an Indigenous woman and chief of Krenhyedjá village, says that connection to the internet has already prevented one invasion by illegal miners.

Soybean plantation (green on left) along the BR-364 highway outside of a protected area near the Jamari River, Rondônia. © Marizilda Cruppe

In January 2021, a group of prospective miners approached their village and the community could hear the threatening noises of nearby engines and airplanes. The villagers were able to make immediate contact with Funai using the internet, and just a few days later the agency managed to locate and confront the invaders and ordered them to leave.

Relieved by the quick response, O-é said: “It was very important to communicate the danger quickly, because the source of our river is near the village and we were very concerned about possible contamination [from the mining activities].

"In the rainy season, the radio only works in the afternoon because communication is impossible when it rains in the mornings. Furthermore, the radios are powered by solar panels, which gets very complicated, and at night they just don't work. That is why the internet is so important."

As well as thwarting land invasions, the internet has also been critical in the village community learning more about Covid-19 and how to best protect themselves against the virus. O-é added: “During the pandemic, access to the internet was very important for the villages to have correct information, from official sources, without the influence of fake news.

“This is saving lives."

Sky surveillance: Drones donated by WWF help Indigenous Peoples monitor and protect their land

Since December 2019, WWF has donated 20 drones to 18 local authorities and Indigenous groups in the Amazon, including the Uru eu-wau-wau, to support them in detecting environmental crime. In partnership with Kanindé Ethno-Environmental Defense Association, these groups were also provided with drone pilot training to support their monitoring and protection of their lands.

Using the drones allows Indigenous Peoples to monitor vast swathes of protected forest areas – that would otherwise be difficult or hugely time-consuming to traverse and patrol on foot – for signs of invasion, deforestation and land grabbing. The technology makes it possible to map, film and photograph areas under threat and pass on accurate information to police and prosecutors to stop illegal destruction of the rainforest.

Land monitoring can also be done remotely, which means safely as Indigenous Peoples can avoid potentially violent conflicts with land grabbers, mining prospectors and loggers.

A WWF-Brazil team flew over the southern region of Pará and northern Mato Grosso between the cities of Itaituba, Novo Progresso, São Félix do Xingu and Guarantã do Norte. In a period of three hours 18 smoke spots were observed. September 2019, Brazil. © Araquém Alcântara

On sending a drone into the sky for the first time after their piloting course, the Uru-eu-wau-wau were shocked and saddened to discover a 1.4-hectare deforested area in their territory that was previously unknown to them. Five days later, they again used a drone to record evidence of a helicopter dispersing grass seeds on the deforested plot, indicating the invaders’ intention to convert the area to pasture for cattle.

Bitaté Uru-eu-wau-wau said:

“The technology today, for territorial monitoring, is very worthwhile. Without a drone, that deforestation — which was already advanced — would still be unknown to us."

Although the Uru-eu-wau-wau could not prevent the destruction of rainforest on that occasion, they are hopeful the drone technology will allow them to better report and foil future deforestation.

WWF providing drone training to communities. Flying the drone is Ismael Menezes Brandão (Siã Shanenawa) from Comissão Pró-Índio (CPI). Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil. © Marizilda Cruppe

WWF would like to thank the Kanindé Ethno-Environmental Defense Association and the Association of the Indigenous People Uru-eu-wau-wau. Without these partners, this work would not have been possible.

This work was carried out with the consent and collaboration of the indigenous people and Fundação Nacional do Índio-FUNAI.

WE NEED
YOUR HELP

We’ve reduced deforestation in the Amazon before, and with united action and global support we can do it again. In the early 2000s, Brazil made huge progress in protecting the Amazon rainforest – reducing deforestation by 82% between 2003 and 2012.

There’s still time to protect the Amazon and save our one shared home.

Join us and #ActForTheAmazon

find out more

Donate to our Amazon Appeal

We’re working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities who are facing urgent threats right now – such as illegal land grabbing, deforestation, fires and Covid-19.

Your support will also fund our work to tackle the underlying causes of deforestation, such as lobbying governments in the UK and Brazil to take stronger action.

donate to our amazon appeal

AMAZON

UNDER

ATTACK

The future of the Amazon rainforest, plus the people and nature who call it home, hangs in the balance and its fate rests in the hands of each and every one of us

To date, more than 17% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed - an area the size of France

Some scientists warn losing just 5% more of the Amazon could push the rainforest beyond an irreversible tipping point

If action is not taken now, 40% of the Amazon rainforest will be gone by 2050

A beautiful biome

in the balance

BITATÉ’S WORLD -
THE VOICe
OF THE AMAZON

TXAI SURUI: A BORN ACTIVIST PROTECTING HER PEOPLE, THE AMAZON, THE WORLD

BITATÉ’S WORLD -
THE VOICE OF THE AMAZON

TXAI SURUI: A BORN ACTIVIST PROTECTING HER PEOPLE, THE AMAZON, THE WORLD

WWF helps connect Indigenous communities to the internet so they can better thwart land grabbers

Sky surveillance: Drones donated by WWF help Indigenous Peoples monitor and protect their land

WE NEED
YOUR HELP

Donate to our Amazon Appeal

AMAZON

UNDER

ATTACK

The future of the Amazon rainforest, plus the people and nature who call it home, hangs in the balance and its fate rests in the hands of each and every one of us

To date, more than 17% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed - an area the size of France

Some scientists warn losing just 5% more of the Amazon could push the rainforest beyond an irreversible tipping point

If action is not taken now, 40% of the Amazon rainforest will be gone by 2050

A beautiful biome

in the balance

BITATÉ’S WORLD - THE VOICeOF THE AMAZON

TXAI SURUI: A BORN ACTIVIST PROTECTING HER PEOPLE, THE AMAZON, THE WORLD

BITATÉ’S WORLD - THE VOICE OF THE AMAZON

TXAI SURUI: A BORN ACTIVIST PROTECTING HER PEOPLE, THE AMAZON, THE WORLD

WWF helps connect Indigenous communities to the internet so they can better thwart land grabbers

Sky surveillance: Drones donated by WWF help Indigenous Peoples monitor and protect their land

WE NEED YOUR HELP

Donate to our Amazon Appeal

BITATÉ’S WORLD -
THE VOICe
OF THE AMAZON

BITATÉ’S WORLD -
THE VOICE OF THE AMAZON

WE NEED
YOUR HELP