The forest speaks.
We listen.
We protect the Amazon by giving voice to those who understand it best:
The Amazon Ecosystem
The Amazon is a humid tropical rainforest that hosts an immense variety of animal and plant species. It is considered one of the most important ecosystems on Earth – and it is at risk.
Support those who care for it every day. Protecting the Amazon means protecting life – ours and that of future generations.
Our Origin
Instituto Vozes da Floresta (Voices of the Forest Institute) was founded on July 23, 2024, but carries the experience of over 40 years walking alongside the forest peoples. Its founder, Paulo Roberto de Azevedo Junior, an indigenist and former FUNAI employee, has spent the last decade working in partnership with non-governmental organizations in support of Indigenous land rights. For 10 years, we also acted directly within the Kayapó Indigenous Territory.
We were born from listening, coexistence, and respect for Indigenous, riverine, and quilombola communities who have cared for the Amazon for generations.
We are a living alliance between nature and community. We work to protect Amazonian territories and to strengthen the autonomy of Indigenous peoples through projects that unite territorial monitoring, community education, and economic self-sufficiency.
We work to ensure these voices are not silenced but instead amplified with strength and protagonism. The true guardians of the forest are its people. We support their choices, customs, and right to exist in autonomy.
The Amazon is our responsibility: caring for it is caring for ourselves.
Our Mission, Vision & Values
Mission:
To protect Amazonian territories and Indigenous lands, and to ensure the autonomy of forest peoples through active listening, logistical support, and sustainable project development.
Vision:
To be a living, safe, and collaborative support network among traditional territories, enabling each village to thrive with dignity, resistance, and freedom.
Values:
- Autonomy as true freedom
- Protection of territories
- Preservation of Amazonian biodiversity: fauna and flora
- Cooperation with Indigenous associations
- Alignment with current legislation, always informing FUNAI about any planned actions
- Community education and economic self-sufficiency
- Gender equality and empowerment of women
- Responsibility, listening, and transparency
Projects
Community-Based Territorial Protection:
We establish monitoring bases managed by Indigenous people and our collaborators, with logistical and strategic support. There are already 16 active bases in Pará, and the demand for more increases annually to ensure Indigenous lands remain protected.
Unlike illegal activities, where resources are concentrated in the hands of a few, we promote income distribution among the villages participating in the projects. Each village selects its own team. Each base represents autonomy, resistance, and safety.
Income and Autonomy:
We co-create sustainable economic alternatives such as: flour production, cumaru collection, seed and seedling collection of native hardwoods, sport fishing, and environmental value-adding activities, generating income for participating communities.
Indigenous Firefighting Brigades:
Formation of Indigenous brigades for forest fire prevention.
Reforestation:
Restoration of areas degraded by illegal mining and logging to help preserve the biodiversity of the Amazon Rainforest.
Local Education and Training:
Capacity-building for territorial management, communication, surveillance, and sustainability, valuing cultural knowledge.
Rights Advocacy:
Institutional work alongside Indigenous associations to defend constitutionally guaranteed rights.
Where We Work
We operate primarily in the states of Pará and Mato Grosso, with 16 established monitoring bases. We currently work with the Kayapó people, but have also supported Yanomami, Apiterewa, Xavante, and other groups, always in alliance with their associations and FUNAI.
Image 1: Map of Kayapó Territory // Image 2: Pressure Map of Illicit Activity in Kayapó Territory
*Visit the FUNAI website to access the Indigenous Lands Panel of Brazil.
We are also initiating a carbon project focused on collecting and cultivating native hardwood tree seeds and seedlings for reforesting degraded lands.
The implementation of the carbon project requires the area to be monitored through satellite imagery, aircraft flyovers, river and land patrols, and drone support for safer approaches. This initiative combines environmental recovery, income generation, and the valuing of traditional forest knowledge.
Our main objective is to ensure the rights already guaranteed by the Brazilian Constitution for Indigenous peoples and to preserve the Amazon’s biodiversity by removing environmental offenders and preventing illegal activities on Indigenous lands, such as: mining, logging, predatory fishing, and illegal pasture leasing.
*Illustrative image of the network effort to protect Indigenous territories.
The future depends on the decisions we make today, and the Amazon is asking for protection.
Support — Get Involved
The Amazon is crying for help. The communities who protect it most need support to keep resisting. Your donation helps implement new bases, fund community training, and provide conditions for each village to choose its own path.
We believe there is no real protection without the forest peoples. Supporting this cause is thinking about the collective good – it is hearing what nature has been shouting.
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Voices from the Forest (Testimonials)
