Kayapo Guardians continue to protect more than 9 million hectares

By Matthew Aruch, ICFC Director of Indigenous Conservation Programs and Kayapo Program Development, Feb. 26, 2025.

2024 was another successful year for Kayapo territorial monitoring and surveillance, although 250 km of the most remote border region of Kayapo territory in the northwest remains undefended and vulnerable with the advance of roads, land-grabbers, and ranching. This gap results from a lack of funding at present for the Kayapo to monitor and occupy this area.

Territorial monitoring, starting with the Kayapo Guard Post program, is the shield behind which all other conservation and sustainable development programs of the Kayapo Project operate.  

About the Guard Post Program 

Sixteen Kayapo Guard Posts strategically monitor 80–90% of the Kayapo’s 2,200-km border, successfully securing more than 9 million hectares of biodiverse tropical forest. Guard posts are a physical deterrent as well as a signal to illegal actors from the Kayapo about their organized defense and their land rights. Satellite imagery, expeditions, and border patrols supplement the guard post efforts. Under the guard post program, the inherent Kayapo drive to protect their territory, culture, and livelihood combines with equitably accessed income to produce a strong social antidote to the bribing of individuals by goldminers, loggers, and fishermen. Guard post teams are comprised of five or six Kayapo drawn from a single community. Teams from different communities rotate every week at most posts. More than 1600 Kayapo Guardians from 71 villages representing three IIndigenous Associations participated in 2024.  

2024 Program Innovations 

Two important initiatives were piloted to bolster and empower Kayapo guardians at the guard posts. The ArcGIS Survey123 app collects real-time data on post activities and patrols to enhance, refine, record and organize surveillance results. The media-based education program leveraged Kayapo and Indigenous media to empower youth with knowledge and examples on how to effectively meet challenges they face in the outside world with an emphasis on territorial and cultural autonomy.  

Gaps in Coverage 

ICFC is endeavouring to secure funding to cover the existing gaps in coverage.  The support of donors is much appreciated, as always.

Visit the program page to learn more about the Kayapo Project  

Donate to support Kayapo Guardians or other Kayapo Project Initiatives  

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