We are proud to announce that we were one of the 5 winners at the OceanLove Innovation Awards 2024 on June 20th, 2204 for our ‘Guardians of the Sacred Waters’ project in the Amazon.
Guardians of the Sacred Waters is a new Indigenous led protection and prevention model, coordinated between the European Crime prevention team and the leaders of the Lower Tapajos. The initiative is an expansion of a previous award winning pilot project on protecting the forests, which now aims to apply the tested approach to safeguarding the river ecosystem of the precious water territories in the Amazon. Using a blend of traditional wisdom and modern technology, they are taking a stand against water-based environmental crimes.
We’re delighted that we were able to successfully show the connection between forest, rivers, oceans and why they not just interconnected but actually interdependent.
At the end of May, 2024, the head of the Treesistance forest guardian program Chief Dadá of TI Maro was invited by the Xavante leadership to discuss the forest protection and have an exchange about leadership, guardianship and education.
The visit was facilitated by Marco van der Ree, Treesistence Strategic Advisor, and Frans Leeuwenberg who is a trusted partner of the Xavante and has been working with them for 35 years on sustainable wildlife management, food security, education and culture.
Dadá was invited by the Xavante leadership to discuss the forest protection and have an exchange about leadership, guardianship and education. The visit was facilitated by Marco van der Ree, Treesistence Strategic Advisor, and Frans Leeuwenberg who is a trusted partner of the Xavante and has been working with them for 35 years on sustainable wildlife management, food security, education and culture.
The trio were joined by 20 Xavante leaders from 14 different villages participated in two long days under the mango trees in fruitful and deep conversations the importance of integrating culture in the formal and traditional education system and how the culture relates to the territory, the land, the animals, and nature as a whole. The third day was spend travelling around the TI to get to know the terrain and the Eastern border.
The Xavante expressed how inspired they were from Dadás visit, as they have never received a leader from another Indigenous territory to share experiences in dealing with these most important issues of cultural and territorial preservation. It was a profoundly valuable exchange.
It was obvious that the friendship built in this visit, is the beginning of a much longer journey where these two groups of Indigenous peoples will continue their exchange and mutual learning. We look forward to supporting the Xavante in forming their own groups of forest guardians to protect this incredibly important and strategically positioned territory from extractive industries. Watch this space…
We celebrated our first birthday at Mandelahuisje, Amsterdam on May 24th, 2024 with As Karuana.
As Karuana are a collective of Indigenous women, musical group of artists from the Baixo-Tapajós region of the Amazon. The collective emerged in 2018 with the mission of echoing the voice of indigenous women to the world in in defence of rivers, forests and the rights of Indigenous peoples, as well as cultural resistance and the fight for good living. They are protagonists in the fight for climate justice in the territory through art and cultural expression.
Thank you to those who joined this special event and everyone who has supported, donated and collaborated with us over the last year.
With special thanks to our media production partner – BLUR
Paper on the Rocks and Treesistance are excited to join forces and launch this special edition tree-free notebook to raise much needed attention for the plight of the Amazon rainforest and its Indigenous inhabitants.
The notebook shows that there is a high quality alternative to traditional paper and funds raised will support the Indigenous custodians who protect the forest and all life within. The result is a beautifully designed book which we hope inspires and instigates positive change around the world. As written inside the cover…
The world is transitioning and needs your knowledge and ideas. Use this notebook as a playground for your creativity and inspirations.
Make your words and actions count.
‘We’re delighted to partner with Paper on the Rocks on this special initiative. Our shared mission to protect trees brought us together and this collaboration highlights the need for collective global action. First and foremost, it raises awareness & funds for the Indigenous people of the Amazon, who risk their lives to protect the forest on behalf of us all. Whilst also showing people and businesses here in Europe that their actions make a difference. The paper industry is a big contributor to the problem of deforestation but Paper on the Rocks gives us hope and optimism in providing this high-quality ethical alternative. We believe these innovations are essential in our global transition to sustainability. ’
Tom Wheeler Executive Director of Treesistance.
‘This partnership is very dear to all of us at Paper on the Rocks. We’ve been working to create tree-free paper to keep trees in the ground for the past eight years. Forests are what sustains us as human beings on this planet. However, we mainly work on transitioning an industry, whilst there is so much action that needs to be taken today to actually protect all forests we still have! We are so happy to have joined forces with Treesistance. This is an organisation that in our opinion is essential to sustain life in general.’
Anne van Eijsden, Founder of Paper on the Rocks
And together we would like to leave this important message to the world…
You don’t have to be in the forest to join the fight!
In January 2023, the Treesistance European team travelled to Brazil to participate in the Indigenous elections for the region.
This was a huge honour, as we were the only non-Indigenous organization invited to this special event, held in the Braganca, Marituba Munduruku territory.
During the 3 day event, we were able to speak with hundreds of chiefs and other leaders from the region, discussing forest crime prevention, communications, renewable energy and sustainable economic development.
As a result, we have been able to advance our forest guardian program and have a number of new initiatives and activities agreed with our Indigenous partners for the remainder of 2024 and beyond.
Ouvimos o co-fundador e diretor executivo Tom Wheeler compartilhar o porquê e como ele faz
o que faz….
‘Depois que minha filha nasceu, redirecionei minha energia do mundo corporativo para apoiar os povos indígenas e a proteção do meio ambiente. Fiz isso porque acredito que estamos em uma necessidade urgente de uma revolução cultural ecológica. Tal revolução só pode acontecer se começarmos a ouvir aqueles que ainda vivem em equilíbrio com o mundo natural.
Acredito que o nosso destino está interligado e as nossas ações agora definirão o nosso futuro coletivo. Eu luto pela Floresta amplificando as vozes indígenas, reunindo criadores de impacto de mentalidade semelhante e direcionando recursos para os guardiões da natureza, que lutam na linha de frente para proteger a Amazônia e toda a vida dentro dela. Esse é o legado que quero deixar para minha filha e para o mundo’.
Estamos orgulhosos de anunciar uma nova colaboração de produto com Dilmah Tea, onde
todos os lucros serão doados ao nosso programa de Guardiões da Floresta.
Dilmah é uma marca de origem do Sri Lanka. Foi a primeira marca de chá de propriedade de
produtores que oferece chá colhido à mão e embalado onde é cultivado, garantindo um ótimo
sabor e qualidades naturais; tornando-a um dos melhores chás do mundo. A filosofia da Dilmah
– negócios são uma questão de serviço humano – é o que torna a marca o primeiro chá
produzido eticamente.
Em suas próprias palavras…
‘Há uma bondade natural em cada xícara de Dilmah que é ampliada pelo impacto humanitário e
ambiental positivo que Dilmah tem nas comunidades e nos ecossistemas’.
If you would like to order a pouch, you can do via https://dilmahtea.me/en/treesistance/
Em junho/julho de 2023, houve uma nova invasão de madeireiros ilegais no Território Indígena Maró. Após semanas de negociações lideradas pelo Chefe Dada, o povo Borari removeu todas as operações, fazendo com que os madeireiros abandonassem a área.
Após esse grande sucesso, instalamos placas de Território Indígena em todos os pontos de
acesso à área, garantindo que seus direitos territoriais sejam respeitados e a floresta protegida.
Seguindo o recente pedido de reconhecimento como território indígena (Incidentalmente, o único apresentado durante o governo Bolsonaro) e o relatório publicado pelo “De Standaard”, temos o prazer de anunciar que houve uma operação bem-sucedida realizada junto à Polícia Federal que impediu os produtores locais de soja de expandirem
ilegalmente suas terras. here , we are pleased to announce that there has been a successful operation carried out with the federal police to stop the local soy farmers illegally expanding their lands.
Apoiamos e nos solidarizamos com as comunidades Munduruku e Apiaká que continuam enfrentando muitos desafios. Fazemos isso tanto diretamente como através do financiamento do coletivo jurídico de Maparajuba que os está ajudando nas reivindicações e disputas de direitos à terra.
Após o lançamento oficial da TREESISTANCE no 22 de junho de 2023, em nome da TREESISTANCE, o cacique Dada, chefe do nosso programa de Guardiões da Floresta, foi apresentado em inúmeras publicações e plataformas líderes de mídia holandesa.
Incluindo;
NRC - 'Guarda de Bairro para a Amazônia' Leia mais here
