Indigenous people from the south of the Brazilian rainforest have mobilized to prevent 138 hydroelectricity plants from invading the Juruena river basin.

Jair Bolsonaro's government's policies threaten Indigenous communities in the Juruena Basin region of Mato Grosso, Brazil. For over three decades, communities have been struggling to bar the construction of large hydroelectric dams, which affect their territories and ways of life.

Indigenous peoples and ribereños in the southern Brazilian Amazon are mobilizing to prevent the invasion of more than 138 hydroelectric structures in the Juruena River watershed that would exacerbate deforestation metrics throughout the region.

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.

In February, a team of journalists traveled to the Amazon to spend time with the Sateré-Mawé, documenting their culture and their longstanding conflicts with mining companies and land thieves. Their series of reports examines the new threats posed to the Sateré and Indigenous groups throughout Brazil in the face of President Jair Bolsonaro's pro-ruralist policies.

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.