Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
The Associated Press
Takeaways from AP’s story on the Ashaninka tribe’s reforestation model in the Brazilian Amazon
By FABIANO MAISONNAVEJORGE SAENZ,
5 hours ago
APIWTXA VILLAGE, Brazil (AP) — The Ashaninka tribe of Amonia River live in a largely preserved area of Brazil’s western Amazon rainforest. Over the past three decades, they have taken back their territory from cattle farmers and loggers, replacing pasture with fruit and timber trees, the sacred Ayahuasca vine, acai palm trees and medicinal plants.
With their autonomy secured, the Ashaninka are now working to share their experience with neighbors to protect the whole region from deforestation and overexploitation of its natural resources. In 2016, an Ashaninka was elected mayor of nearby Marechal Thaumaturgo, the first Indigenous to achieve this in Western Amazon’s Acre state.
The area where the Apiwtxa village sits in the Brazilian Amazon was once a sprawling cattle farm run by non-Indigenous settlers who deforested the land. Establishing land boundaries opened the door to reforestation and cultural rebirth. (AP Video/Jorge Saenz)
Now, an Ashaninka-led regional organization has secured a $6.8 million grant to improve territory management in neighboring Indigenous territories, collectively an area the size of the U.S. State of Delaware.
Here’s what to know:
Indigenous youth Yawari Asheninka poses for a picture next to the Amonia River during the annual celebration recognizing the Ashaninka territory in the Apiwtxa village, Acre state, Brazil, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
Protecting land
Thirty-two years ago, following a long struggle for recognition, Brazil’s federal government created the Ashaninka territory of Amonia River. Loggers and cattle farmers who had hired Indigenous people, often having them work in slave-like conditions, were forced to leave.
The Ashaninka transferred their main village, Apiwtxa, to an abandoned pasture in a strategic location for surveillance. There, they started reforestation and pursued self-sufficiency through food production while protecting the territory from loggers and hunters.
Apolima-Arara Indigenous youth Ozileia Macedo dances during the annual celebration recognizing the Ashaninka territory in the Apiwtxa village, Acre state, Brazil, Monday, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)Charles Apolima participates in tug-of-war during the annual celebration recognizing the Ashaninka territory in the Apiwtxa village, Acre state, Brazil, Sunday, June 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)Ashaninka Indigenous Antonio Piyako, center, participates in a bow and arrow competition during the annual celebration recognizing the Ashaninka territory in the Apiwtxa village, Acre state, Brazil, Sunday, June 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)Charles Apolima, center, judges the work of participants in a face painting contest during the annual celebration recognizing the Ashaninka territory in the Apiwtxa village, Acre state, Brazil, Sunday, June 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
The Piyãko family
The Piyãko family has led the Ashaninka’s transformation. In 2016, Isaac Piyãko was the first, and so far only, Indigenous mayor elected in Acre state. That ended the traditional political dominance by rubber barons, loggers and farmers. Four years later, Piyãko was reelected. Meanwhile his brother, Francisco Piyãko, is the mastermind of a project to share Apiwtxa’s experience with neighboring Indigenous territories.
Ashaninka Indigenous family of Wewito Piyako and his wife Auzelina Ashaninka, right, have breakfast at their home in the Apiwtxa village, Acre state, Brazil, Saturday, June 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
Climate change
The Jurua Basin has been severely affected by extreme weather. Last year, during the Amazon’s record drought, the Amonia River was so warm that for the first time the Ashaninka stopped bathing in its waters, and thousands of fish died. A few months later, historic flooding destroyed crops across the region and swept away a fish farm. This year, Amazon communities are again suffering from widespread drought.
Ashaninka Indigenous maneuver in a boat on the Amonia River, in the Apiwtxa village, Acre State, Brazil, Sunday, June 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
____
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0