Indigenous women are the leaders of a promise to future generations. Mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers—all women in the community—share an important understanding of and responsibility for forest resources, which are critical for food security for the entire family, and for sustainable management of community resources. In the Xikrin People’s Territorial and Environmental Management Plan (PGTA—developed in partnership with TNC), the Menire emphasized the importance of strengthening their traditional knowledge and the commercial management of non-timber forest products, such as the piy (Brazil nut). The entire family participates in the processing of the piy, including collection, washing, drying, transporting, and storing.

TNC also supports other Indigenous Peoples in managing and commercializing resources like the Brazil nut, including the Parakanã Indigenous People in the Apiterewa Indigenous Land, neighboring the Xikrin. As with the babaçu oil project, the Xikrin and Parakanã Peoples’ established organizations are managing and selling the Brazil nut directly to the industry, for example to a bread factory, removing intermediary buyers and thereby receiving higher prices. The Parakanã People are also developing a strong commercial supply chain for their traditional crafts, selling them for an added value and to a market with stable demand. This in turn provides a constant flow of income that goes directly to the women, who use it to improve the lives of their families and villages and ultimately to strengthen Parakanã autonomy on their land.

An enabling condition that has contributed to success in these places has been the presence of secure demarcated land rights. Although far from fully secure of encroachment and illegal entry and extraction by outside actors, the fact that the Xikrin and Parakanã territories are demarcated makes for a more stable starting point for these efforts. Additionally, the support of long-term partnerships and strong multi-stakeholder platforms has been an important component of this work. For example, Indigenous Peoples from different lands are coming together in collaboration on sustainable livelihoods initiatives, to achieve greater scale and impact, and to connect with mechanisms such as the selo Origens Brasil® for sustainable certification. One of the ways TNC Brazil supports continued multi-stakeholder engagement is through maintaining a cooperative agreement with FUNAI, to ensure FUNAI and TNC objectives and actions are collaborative, complementary, and align behind shared goals in support of Indigenous leadership and self-determination throughout different ethno-regions.

The increasing visibility of Indigenous women’s leadership in Indigenous associations and institutions at all levels across Brazil is leading to large-scale results: Today, the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) and the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), for example, are represented by strong women leaders who promote both Indigenous rights and environmental sustainability at national and regional scales.

When the connections among conservation activities, gender equity, and Indigenous rights are understood, acknowledged, and supported, conservation activities have a much higher potential for generating positive social impacts and contributing to more enduring conservation outcomes. And key to this success is centering the vision and leadership of the Indigenous women themselves, and valuing their process for involvement of the men, youth, and other members of the community, with TNC and other partners playing a supportive role. Supporting Indigenous women to thrive in ways they determine as culturally responsive and aligned with their vision for the future is critical for ensuring the conservation of millions of hectares of ecologically critical lands across Latin America and around the world.