Treesistance was born following the merger of the Sinchi Foundation and Forest Forces.
Forest Forces developed crime prevention strategies and their model was born during a scientific green criminology project in Brazil (2010-2016), funded by the Dutch NWO-WOTRO Science for Global Development Program. It was set up in collaboration with Brazilian universities and NGOs to identify and reduce social and environmental harm, including crime. The development strategy focused on access to justice and improving the rule of law.
In 2014, the first traditional communities that live near deforestation hotspots were equipped with waterproof GPS cameras, solar chargers and power bank. This allowed them to take pictures of illegal forest activities. In 2016, a twelve- member surveillance team from the Territory collected GPS-evidence of illegal activities within their territory which led to the removal of all illegal extractive industries.. This model can be replicated in other areas, especially in Indigenous and other protected areas with GPS borders.
