Project

How Young Indigenous, Quilombola, and Riverine People from the Tapajós River Are Becoming Rainforest Defenders

Amidst an increasingly destructive and often murderous atmosphere, indigenous communities along the Tapajós River (PA), in the Brazilian Amazon, are struggling to defend their rainforest and river ecosystems. Constantly harassed by agribusinesses, illegal mining, logging, and infrastructure construction projects, organized indigenous women and young people are raising their voices in defense of their Borari, Tupinambá, Arapiun or Munduruku land. They have become front line fighters in the global battle to stop climate change.

The youth organization Engajamundo is currently implementing the Engaja na Amazônia project. Their mission is to make young Brazilians aware that, by changing themselves and their environment, and by engaging politically, they can transform their reality. Young people in traditional communities are being challenged and trained to undertake activism, use advocacy tools, create journalistic content about threats to their environment, and become transformative leaders within their communities.

Support for this reporting was made possible by the Rainforest Journalism Fund, in association with the Pulitzer Center.

 

 

Joane: We Can End the Toxic Use and Burning of Plastics (Spanish)

This young Brazilian activist is fighting to change unsustainable practices in her community, asking that they stop littering and stop burning trash. This is the fourth story in the series "Rainforest Defenders," which presents five young leaders who are fighting to save the Amazon rainforest.

Drica: Defending Territory for Future Generations Means Resistance (Spanish)

Drica is responsible for an association of six communities of African descendants facing the destruction of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Drica's story is the third in the series 'Rainforest Defenders,' which presents five young leaders in the fight to save forests.

Ednei: This Is Maró Indigenous Land

The communities of Brazil's Amazon face challenges due to aggressive agribusiness activities encouraged by the new Bolsonaro regime. This series features five young leaders who defend the forest and its territory. In this chapter: Ednei.