Nestled deep in the Brazilian Amazon along the Peruvian border, the state of Acre contains about 15 million hectares – most of which remains pristine virgin rainforest – within a space roughly the size of Florida. It’s also home to thousands of indigenous people, who serve an invaluable role as stewards of the so-called Earth’s Lungs, the Amazon rainforest. Supporting these communities is critical to both preserving their cultural heritage and achieving our global climate goals, and that’s why Forest Trends’ Communities Initiative works closely with the Yawanawá people, a group of about 1,500 living in nine villages spread across a vast forest territory of 200,000 hectares.

The most recent milestone in this partnership came in February 2016, when Forest Trends helped the Yawanawá finance and construct a traditional community center, or Shuhu, near the entry point to their territory. For generations, Shuhus have served as important focal points of civic engagement, particularly for the tribe’s highest elected political authority, the council of leaders, who meets here to formulate strategies for managing their territory and safeguarding it from outside encroachment.