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Empowering Indigenous Communities in the Amazon

AFD News

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terrindigena amazonie forêt autochtones communautés
© Fundación Gaia Amazonas

The “Terrindigena” Project will provide support for 18 indigenous communities in Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador, to improve their living conditions and protect 17 million hectares of Amazonian forest.

On 13 April, AFD and the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) launched the multi-country TerrIndigena project, which will support 18 indigenous Amazonian communities in three countries: Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador.

Priorities range from the protection of land to the sharing of knowledge and the generation of income-generating activities. 

This initiative will be developed in partnership with the Gaia Amazonas Foundation (Colombia), the EcoCiencia Foundation (Ecuador) and the Instituto de Pesquisa e Formação Indígena – Iepé (Brazil). It will also involve several civil society organizations and NGOs with experience working with indigenous communities who protect the largest rainforest in the world.



Preserving 17 million hectares

The project will allocate €5.72 million to increase the protection of over 17 million hectares in the Amazonian region in northern Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador. 

This natural area, which is currently one of the best preserved in the region, faces increasing environmental threats, such as deforestation, the overexploitation of resources and water and soil pollution, which make indigenous communities vulnerable.

TerrIndigena is based on four components:  

  1. The provision of governance tools to improve the representation of indigenous rights and the protection of territories 
  2. Community monitoring of endogenous and exogenous pressures and threats
  3. The implementation of income-generating activities compatible with traditional values and cultures, which respect ecosystems
  4. The exchange of knowledge and experience at regional level and the coordination of stakeholders

For Nicolas Fornage, AFD’s Regional Director for Andean countries, “The TerrIndigena project complements the TerrAmaz regional project launched in 2020. These two initiatives demonstrate the French Government’s commitment to preserve the Amazonian region and to work to protect the local biome and sustainably develop its indigenous territories.” 

A biome is a complex biotic or living community characterized by distinctive plant and animal species.