Our First Pilot Project

To effectively restore and protect the Amazon, a comprehensive action plan is essential, targeting multiple areas of intervention that integrate environmental stewardship, community empowerment, and technological advancements. The following key initiatives form the backbone of this ambitious effort:

We have kicked off with a first pilot project in close cooperation with the Guajajara Indigenous people in North East Brazil. They have planted 1.1 million trees with support from our network and are making an inventory on how their communities would like to see a sustainable future focusing on the well being of the forest inhabitants, human and non-human alike. We will deploy the new digital financial platform there including a first experiment with a local digital coin. 

It is the intention of the project team to also start two more projects in support of existing efforts in the Sacred Headwaters area in Peru as well as a project in Colombia as phase one of the restoration project. Based on our learnings there we will scale soon after in these three major Amazon countries and set up pilots in Bolivia, Ecuador and the three Guyanas.

Our First Pilot Project: Protecting and Restoring Arariboia with the Guajajara People

Launched in collaboration with the Guajajara people, our first pilot program focuses on protecting and restoring the Arariboia Indigenous Territory in northeastern Brazil. This vast area on the eastern edge of the Amazon is home to critical ecosystems and serves as the ancestral land of the Guajajara. It is 413.000 hectares (a little over 1 million acres) in size. Arariboia is one of several Indigenous territories and conservation units that collectively form the Mosaico Gurupi, a protected area complex in northeastern Brazil. The total area of the Mosaico Gurupi spans approximately 1.3 million hectares (about 3.2 million acres), representing a critical ecological corridor on the eastern edge of the Amazon and an area that, once regenerated, has considerable potential to reinforce the biotic pump over the Amazon in combination with nearby coastal restoration.

The Guardians of the Forest

Central to the effort are the 180 brave men and women known as the Guardians of the Forest. For years, they have courageously defended Arariboia against illegal activities, often at great personal risk. Tragically, 26 Guardians have lost their lives in this fight over the past decade. Despite these losses, they continue to patrol and protect their lands using traditional knowledge and emerging technologies.

Core Objectives

The pilot project aims to achieve the following:

  • Reforestation and Ecosystem Restoration: Restore deforested land by planting 16 million trees. 

  • Community Empowerment: Strengthen the Guajajara people’s economic self-sufficiency through job creation, enhanced food security, and access to education and healthcare.

  • Sustainable Governance: Build capacity within the community to manage resources effectively, while ensuring Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) in all activities.

Practical Steps

The project integrates several strategies:

  • Funding: Securing REDD+ financing to support Guardian salaries, transportation, and community infrastructure.

  • Buffer Zones: Creating protective zones around river headwaters to prevent further environmental degradation.

  • Digital Solutions: Utilizing satellite monitoring and blockchain-based smart contracts for transparency and progress tracking.

Collaboration and Partnerships

The initiative will involve partnerships with government authorities like Funai, Brazil’s Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, local NGOs such as ISPN, Mandu and SumaUma, as well as international organizations. 

Overcoming Challenges

Logistical, financial, and regulatory challenges are inherent to projects of this scale in remote areas. By fostering trust, transparency, and collaboration, the Arariboia project is building a robust foundation for success.

Pilot Projects

1st Pilot Project: Arariboia and Mosaico Gurupi

  • Restoration of > 1 mio ha/2.5  mio acres of Indigenous lands with the Guajajara and other Indigenous peoples in Northeast Brazil. 

  • Strategically placed to reinforce the degraded biotic pump function of the Amazon. 

2nd and 3rd Pilot Projects: 

In Colombia and Peru with strong local partners:

  • Sacred Headwaters Project (Peru)

  • Fundación Gaia Amazonas (Colombia)

A Model for Scaling Action

The Arariboia pilot program represents more than local restoration; it is a blueprint for collaborative action with other Indigenous peoples in the Amazon. Indigenous territories in the Amazon region, spanning across all the Amazon basin countries, cover approximately 2.1 million square kilometers (210 million hectares or about 519 million acres). This accounts for around 30-35% of the entire Amazon region, making these territories crucial for the preservation of the forest, its biodiversity, and its role in global climate regulation. By demonstrating how Indigenous leadership, sustainable practices, and international collaboration can converge, this initiative sets the stage for scalable solutions to the climate crisis. It will be one of the key pillars of the regeneration program but different models will be offered to other communities in the great forest area, such as the Quilombola communities, Ribeirinhos, Caboclos, peasant farmers, settlers in extractive reserve and smallholder farmers, all of whom contribute to the sustainable management and conservation of these vital ecosystems. We will also set up economically viable onboarding processes for the people who are currently destroying the biome, such as illegal loggers, land grabbers (grileiros), cattle ranchers, soy and sugar cane farmers, miners (garimpeiros) and so on, while we hope to work with governments at all levels to increase law enforcement considerably as the stick, while the project provides the carrot.

We are partnering with CO2ECO to scale up ecosystem restoration and carbon sequestration through ARR & REDD+, led by the Guajajara Forest Guardians. This collaboration empowers Indigenous communities to protect their forests, secure their land, and earn for defending it. With the feasibility study expected by Q2 2025, we aim to secure financing to protect 413,000 hectares and support these courageous defenders, featured in the award-winning film We Are Guardians.

‘’We live on a live planet that can respond to the changes we make, either by canceling the changes or by canceling us.” 

— James E. Lovelock, The Revenge of Gaia