This project (now concluded) comprised a set of initiatives for establishing an environmental management plan in indigenous lands. The plan involved the sustainable harvesting and commercialization of logging and extractive resources in the Xikrin do Cateté Indigenous Territory, state of Pará, with the Xikrin Kayapo Indians. Prior to this project, the Xikrin had been involved in illegal logging activities, entailing severe socio-environmental impacts in the Middle Xingu River region.

The project’s aim was to convert the practices of predatory exploitation into a sustainable economic model. To bring this about, the ISA team had to pursue a complex process of interinstitutional linkages, especially with government agencies, and to set up on-going communication with the Xikrin community. The ISA team also worked to strengthen the Indians’ participation in managing the project through the Bép-Noi Association in Defense of the Xikrin People.

The project’s priorities were the following: consolidating and administrating a forestry management plan; practicing integrated land management; generating income through commercializing wood and Brazil nuts; and training members of the indigenous association in administration.

The forestry management plan was developed through a partnership between the Bep-Nói Association and the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA), with logistical and financial support from the Vale do Rio Doce Company (CVRD) and the Pro-Management Subprogram of the Pilot Program for the Protection of Tropical Forests in Brazil, one of the programs of the Ministry of the Environment.

In late 2002, the Xikrin decided to bring the partnership with ISA to a close and entered into a direct contract with the Brumila Norte Industrial Logging company, which had been a partner in the project since 1997.