Living Gaia e.V.
Support the Amazon rainforest in Brazil and its guardians
Protect the Amazon rainforest. Empower indigenous groups. Connect cultures.
Where indigenous people can live self-determined lives, the rainforest remains healthy. Together with the local communities, Living Gaia e.V. therefore defends the Brazilian Amazon and promotes indigenous sovereignty.
Living Gaia e. V. is a non-profit association founded in 2014 and based in Berlin. They protect the primary forest in the Brazilian Amazon in the Jordão region of Acre state. They work closely with the local indigenous and traditional populations on site.
In addition, they promote cultural exchange between indigenous and non-indigenous cultures. In doing so, they also raise awareness in Europe of the challenges and solutions in the Amazon region.
The challenges for people and nature in the Amazon are diverse.
Together with local partner organizations, Living Gaia e. V. is working on various fronts:
Protecting the Amazon Rainforest
With the Tarayá forest protection project, they are preserving 160 square kilometers of primary forest in the Brazilian Amazon from deforestation and illegal hunting – an area as large as Liechtenstein. This prevents CO₂ emissions comparable to the annual emissions of 36,000 Germans. Local animal populations are also recovering in their refuge. Isolated indigenous people (isolados) find one of their last retreats in Tarayá. They are currently reforesting another 800 hectares.
With your support, they are permanently protecting the land and its inhabitants from exploitation.
Empowering Indigenous Women
Since the beginning of their work, they have placed a special focus on cooperation with the Huni Kuin women. They promote economic independence and education. The development of local organizational structures and entrepreneurship is an essential element in this. For example, they supported the founding of the region's first women's organization, Aibu Dayá ("the work of women" in hatxã kuin, the indigenous language of the Huni Kuin).
With your support, they are building, among other things, the region's first community and women's center.
Promoting health and providing humanitarian support
Malnutrition and a lack of access to clean drinking water are the biggest factors for health problems among the Huni Kuin in the region. Living Gaia promotes food production through fish ponds, animal husbandry, and agroforestry systems.
In addition, they support the villages with emergency aid during the increasing floods caused by the climate crisis.
Connecting Cultures
We believe that a profound transformation towards sustainability is only possible through new perspectives and a change in consciousness. That's why Living Gaia creates a direct bridge: through regular visits of Huni Kuin representatives to Europe, they not only promote cultural exchange about their way of life and visions, but also offer them the necessary visibility for their political and activist struggle in the context of the global climate crisis. Their voices are crucial for the protection of the planet.
With your support, Living Gaia enables exhibitions and lectures by indigenous women in Europe to inspire people to protect the Amazon rainforest.
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