Indigenous Peoples’ close relationship with their environment has resulted in unique knowledge systems. Elders’ mind maps have been used for generations to guide land management and territorial protection. For roughly 12,000 years, this knowledge enabled Indigenous Peoples to live in harmony in the dense Amazon rainforest, shaping it and enhancing its diversity. Natural landmarks and Indigenous socio-cultural territories often functioned as unspoken boundaries without defined borders. Still, the dynamic that shaped the traditional landscapes of Indigenous territorial occupation shifted with the incursion of foreigners onto Indigenous territories in Brazil. As a result of numerous conflicts, the Indigenous struggle rose to the federal level. Following several clashes, Article 231 of the Brazilian Constitution was established to recognize the physical demarcation of Indigenous Lands as a fundamental right, safeguarding their cultural and historical sovereignty.
Despite this legal achievement, there is still a long way to go before these rights are fully realized. According to FUNAI, Brazil’s governmental protection agency for Indigenous Peoples, 153 traditional territories are still in the first phase of the demarcation process, which can take more than 20 years to complete. Moreover, deforestation rates within Indigenous Lands have increased significantly in recent years, with territories inhabited by Peoples living in voluntary isolation being the most affected. Other impacts continue to directly threaten the well-being of these communities, while climate-related challenges worsen the environmental conditions at the community level.
While the State lacks resources to effectively implement Indigenous territorial rights, Indigenous communities, organizations, and civil society have been seeking complementary solutions. The internet has emerged as a powerful resource to defend Indigenous rights, disseminate information, and organize and mobilize communities internally. In this context, Indigenous science has been combined with other knowledge systems to ensure the integrity of their territories and welfare. Integrating these knowledge systems has led to the creation of a social technology called the SOMAI-ACI system, which includes the Indigenous Amazon Observation and Monitoring System (SOMAI) platform and the Indigenous Climate Alert (ACI) application.
Workshop held at Raposa Serra do Sol IL in Roraima in partnership with CIR. Photo by CIR.
Territorial surveillance and monitoring have long been part of Indigenous communities’ routines. These strategies often combine various methods, such as tracking by scent, using landmarks, and seeking spiritual guidance. However, over the last few years, the escalation of land conflicts has demanded new approaches. In response, the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, in collaboration with Indigenous organizational partners, developed the SOMAI geo-web platform to support monitoring activities. Hosted on an open-access online platform, SOMAI serves as a data library, providing information on the impacts affecting Indigenous Lands in the Brazilian Amazon.
The SOMAI platform offers data on territories, land use, infrastructure projects, and climate. Initially designed to assess the level of exposure of each territory to external impacts, SOMAI’s first version was launched in 2014 and was mentioned in the National Adaptation Plan as a tool to support climate adaptation efforts. Its main partners included FUNAI, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), and the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), among others.
The ACI version 1.0. app generates instant alerts of fire, deforestation, and weather data for each Indigenous land in the Brazilian Amazon.
Photo courtesy of IPAM.
Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), and the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), among others. The original platform disclosed open data, mostly coming from satellite or public open sources. Over the years, SOMAI has evolved, incorporating new features in its third version. Its reliance on the internet led to the creation of the Indigenous Climate Alert application in 2016, which, in addition to satellite data, enables Indigenous Peoples to collect information directly from their villages—often in remote areas with little or no internet access.
Through its development phase, IPAM held several workshops in the states of Mato Grosso, Roraima, and Maranhão. In this process, the Indigenous organizations collaborated on designing the content and functionality that would best fit their needs. ACI’s resulting design generates automatic alerts on fire and deforestation occurrences to all Indigenous Lands of the Brazilian Amazon, as well as weather data on temperatures, rain, and wind speed.
Since its first version, ACI has been updated to incorporate new functionalities according to its use by Indigenous Peoples, mainly local monitoring agents. It serves as a tool for mapping and locating threats in the territory, such as territorial invasion, illegal mining, and deforestation, enabling the communities to tell their story firsthand. The mobile app currently has more than 900 users across 32 organizations and is connected to the SOMAI platform via login. It features a robust security system that prevents third-party access to private information collected from the 33 million hectares under surveillance by the SOMAI-ACI system, and has proven to be a fruitful integration of Indigenous and non-Indigenous science.
Red areas indicate total deforestation as of 2020. Source: elaborated by IPAM, based on INPE/PRODES data, 2020.
Fire Brigades at Roraima State
The Indigenous Council of Roraima is a statewide organization located in the northern region of Brazil, where the Amazon borders Venezuela and Guyana. While this area is part of the Amazon, the region’s native vegetation shares characteristics with savanna ecosystems. Working closely with nine Indigenous Peoples across 10 ethno-regions representing around 50,000 people, CIR has developed a unique approach that combines technological tools, like the SOMAI-ACI system, with traditional on-the-ground knowledge.
Fire is a natural element managed by Indigenous communities in the region, but climate change is altering weather patterns and impacting traditional fire management practices. To combat and prevent fire events within Protected Areas such as Indigenous Lands, a program promoted by the Federal government supports Indigenous fire brigades, including in Roraima State. CIR is a key partner in this alliance, leading with an innovative approach. The Indigenous brigades’ positive impact goes beyond firefighting, extending to land restoration, environmental education, and land management by integrating satellite data with ancestral science.
Building, participating in, and collecting data through the SOMAI-ACI system has demonstrated that information and communication technologies can effectively support Indigenous Land management. However, significant challenges remain to ensure these projects benefit Indigenous communities and the wider public. While some of these challenges are technological, many of the most pressing issues are social, political, or economic. There is an urgent need to establish a secure communication channel that connects the SOMAI-ACI system and the organizations that use it with federal command and control agencies. This connection is essential for addressing crimes and
other illegal activities that occur within these communities. While establishing the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and restructuring FUNAI shed light on a new horizon to overcome these challenges and achieve substantial progress, there is far to go.
Sineia Bezerra do Vale (Wapichana) is the Latin America and Caribbean co-chair of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change.
Top photo: Fire brigades trained by CIR in partnership with FUNAI and IBAMA. Photo by CIR.
