Powered by the indigenous people themselves, the territorial protection tool was developed by the Hutukara Yanomami Association, UNICEF and ISA
Seven out of every 10 reports received from an alert system in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory (TIY) refer to activities carried out by non-indigenous people in the territory, including miners. The data comes from a new alert system supported by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and implemented by the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) and the Hutukara Associação Yanomami (HAY). The system covers, in its first phase, 19 regions of the territory and has received 70 complaints since its implementation, between March 2023 and April 2024.
Alerts generated about activities in the territory include topics such as invasion and threats. Another 18% of alerts are related to environmental issues, such as fires and contaminated water, and 12% to health, such as cases of malnutrition and malaria outbreaks.
For the vice-president of Hutukara and Yanomami leader, Dário Kopenawa, the project - which ended its first phase last month with an event in Boa Vista, Roraima - supports Yanomami communities and helps to report invasions, health situations and manage the territory.
“We are still suffering, the miners are still on our land and continue to fly their planes over the heads of our people, disturbing the births of our children with the noise of engines. But with the alert system we have the opportunity to communicate to the authorities about what happens within the territory”, declared Dário.
“More than half of the more than 30 thousand Yanomami in the territory are children and young people. The alert system, powered by the Yanomami themselves, comes as part of the process of autonomy and control of the territory, serving as a tool to alert public authorities and raise awareness among the population about what is happening in the largest indigenous land in Brazil”, said the technical coordinator for UNICEF Indigenous Affairs, Léia Vale.
The House of Government, which centralizes the coordination of 31 federal agencies operating in the Yanomami TI and the State of Roraima, was present at the closing event of the first phase of implementation of the alert system. “Today our main objective is to combat mining on indigenous lands, but also outside the territory. This information that arrives through alerts is important for organizing our work”, explained the director of the Government House, Nilton Tubino.
In addition to the House of Government, bodies such as the Federal Police, Federal Highway Police, Federal Public Defender's Office (DPU), Federal Public Ministry, Brazilian Institute of the Environment and of Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI), the Federal University of Roraima (UFRR) and indigenous organizations such as the Wanassedume Ye'kwana Association (SEDUUME) and URIHI Yanomami Association.
Alert system
Reports and complaints coming from the Yanomami Indigenous Territory, which were previously made by letters, in-person visits or radio messages, take on a new format with the current alert system. The system works as a center where the communities themselves, through a cell phone application, issue notifications about health and environmental risks in an orderly manner.
“With the project, we have a more organized flow to receive information from the territory and, as a result, we have better monitoring of the situation and better quality of information. The alert system is an opportunity to organize and have quality data for better monitoring and better response from public authorities”, explains Estêvão Benfica Senra, ISA geographer.
The application provides forms where the population can attach photos, videos, audios and even location points with geographic coordinates to report the alert to be generated. Once qualified and validated, the alerts are placed on the panel so that authorities and partner institutions can be aware of any abnormality that threatens the territory. Registrations can be made offline and the tool provides options in Yanomami, Ye'kwana, Sanoma and Portuguese languages.
The alert system project is funded by the European Union, through the Department of Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), and aims to increase resilience and strengthen the autonomy of communities with the integration of a system that respects the context and knowledge of indigenous communities.
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