Protecting The Tembe Indigenous Reserves

Pará, Brazil

The Problem

The Tembé Indigenous people of Brazil, like other native populations, are the proven best protectors of rainforest areas. A map of the Tembé reserve showed us an island of rainforest surrounded by an area of deforestation and destruction at their borders. This is also what we saw in person when we met with the Tembé.

The Tembé project represents a rare opportunity to recognize and establish an international model for indigenous rainforest preservation by supporting the work of the Tembé as protectors of their land. The Tembé are currently reporting massive illegal logging operations on their reserve.

With only 1500 members in the tribe, and incursions over large areas, there are many difficulties in monitoring the area. The Tembé are extremely well organized and driven. About 30 young rangers patrol the area and need help keeping the borders secure. Technical challenges to the project are the area’s remoteness and weak cell phone service. The Tembé have asked for help developing technological solutions that can aid their ability to monitor their lands and get data for the purpose of measuring the scope of illegal activities, create legal evidence of these activities and use the information to pressure government and law enforcement for protection and response. In the words of the Tembé, the current destruction of their rainforest is an existential threat to their lives and threatens their ability to exist as a people.

Watch our mini documentary on the Tembé project below:

Partners

Primary partner: ECAM has been working with indigenous communities in the Brazilian Amazon since 2002 with a specific focus on strengthening indigenous communities’ autonomy in the management and protected of their traditional lands. ECAM specializes in helping develop and strengthen indigenous planning processes through a series of participatory and collaborative methodologies tested over the last decade with indigenous communities through the Brazilian Amazon.
Implementing Organizations: Tembé Rangers, ECAM, Rainforest Connection

Objectives

Main Objectives:

Map and establish key nodal points for monitoring illegal logging activities, entrance and extraction points. Test and implement the Rainforest Connection system at key access points with cell service in the Tembé Reserve (such as areas where trucks enter for illegal logging) per their request.
Conduct a comprehensive feasibility study that determines which technological tools and innovations will give the Tembé the best ability to monitor and protect their traditional lands. Additionally, how to use this information to recognize patterns of illegal activity and to motivate local and federal authorities to intervene, per the request of the Tembé.

Secondary Objectives:

Determine the potential for developing connectivity across the reserve in order to enhance the security of the Tembé, capture illegal activities, as well as other needs such as promoting real time communication between villages, coordination of leadership and governance activities. Test infrastructure and technology adaptations that could promote faster emergency response times within the context of territorial protection, healthcare, and coordination with external law enforcement (FUNAI and SEMA-Pa).
Work with the Tembé to establish a Tembé Technology Working Group that becomes the point of contact for leveraging future technological implementations, opportunities and partnerships, training, institutional knowledge, infrastructure expansion and by encouraging a culture of innovation (which we saw strong evidence of) among the Tembé youth.
Determine which innovation strategies would allow the Tembé to leverage existing infrastructure in their area to the greatest effect, and which strategies require expanded coverage and communications around the reserve.
Set up permanent RFCx systems in the Tembé Reserve that allow for continuous use of rainforest data to help our local partners protect critically endangered rainforest.
Enable the sharing of data with partners and the international research community, scientists, researchers, NGO’s, conservationists, and policy makers.

Implementation

We have developed the first real-time anti-deforestation monitoring platform. Existing platforms are either satellite-driven, which renders them too late to intervene in illegal logging as it occurs, or too expensive and proprietary to scale effectively.
We recycle old mobile phones into solar-powered devices that pinpoint the location of illegal logging in rainforests as it occurs.
If taken to scale with mass production, the Rainforest Connection platform is likely the least expensive way to perform real-time monitoring and stop illegal deforestation (or other poaching activities).

Impact

Today, after a 30-year wait, the Brazilian Government has finally returned the rightful land of the Alto Rio Guamá to the Indigenous people, including our partners, the Tembé Indigenous community. Since 2014, we have stood by the Tembé, forging a close and enduring partnership. Through our Guardian devices and comprehensive system, we have worked hand-in-hand with them on a near-daily basis, empowering them to protect their land from illegal deforestation, poaching, and invaders—direct threats to their invaluable resources, their people, and the very survival of their unique culture. This historic milestone marks a significant step towards ensuring the long-term sustainability and preservation of their land. However, our journey is far from over. We now face the important task of expanding our monitoring and threat detection efforts, implementing reforestation initiatives, and much more. We are dedicated to continuing this work, knowing that it is only the beginning.

Chief Sérgio Tembé expressed his gratitude with these inspiring words: