As our Amazon Watch team heads back home from Brazil, we’re celebrating a major victory for Indigenous peoples! President Lula da Silva announced at this year’s Free Land Camp that he is formally recognizing several Indigenous Lands and following through on his campaign promise to "not leave a single Indigenous territory unprotected."

This year's theme was Demarcação Já, or “Demarcation Now!” Demarcation is the Brazilian government’s process for the formal recognition and titling of Indigenous lands. Lula’s announcement of six new officially-recognized Indigenous territories marks a historic milestone in the multi-generational struggle for Indigenous rights, self-determination, and autonomy.

Now, one of the Indigenous territories entering the final steps of the demarcation process is Sawré Muybu, the Munduruku Indigenous land that 2023 Goldman Prize Winner Alessandra Munduruku and her community have been working to get formally recognized for decades. This is a significant win for the Amazon and our climate!

To inspire our movement to celebrate and remain energized toward a permanently protected Amazon, we are sharing photos and quotes from Indigenous leaders that we had the privilege of connecting with. Sawe!