What was once a gathering to commemorate the Ashaninka has evolved into a
showcase of what they have done: the village’s self-sufficiency, which comes
from growing crops and protecting its forest, is now a model for an ambitious
project to help 12 Indigenous territories in western Amazon, amounting to
640,000 hectares (1.6 million acres), about the size of the U.S. state of
Delaware. In November, the Organization of Indigenous People of the Jurua River,
known by the Portuguese acronym OPIRJ, secured $6.8 million in support from the
Amazon Fund, the world’s largest initiative to combat rainforest deforestation.
With Apiwtxa as the model, the grant is geared toward improving Indigenous land
management with an emphasis on food production, cultural strengthening and
forest surveillance.
