At the far western edge of Brazil, the Alto Rio Içá is a frontier that is anything but empty. Here, floodplains, terra firme forests, and white-sand ecosystems sustain extraordinary diversity of life—giant river otters sliding through blackwater streams, harpy eagles wheeling above the canopy, orchids and hardwoods anchoring complex forest mosaics. Beneath this living fabric lies a deeper story: for millennia, Indigenous peoples have cultivated and cared for these lands, leaving their mark in orchards, fishing grounds, earthworks, and enduring networks of knowledge.

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Rapid Inventory 33 set out to document this dual inheritance—the biological riches of a borderland forest and the social worlds that shape and depend on them. Over three weeks, a team of scientists and Indigenous experts traveled the Içá and its tributaries, recording sharp ecological turnover among habitats, unique clusters of fishes, amphibians, and plants, and the rhythms of agroforestry plots, hunting trails, and ritual practice. The result is a portrait of a landscape that is both ecologically irreplaceable and culturally continuous, where human and non-human histories are entwined.

 

This inventory was also a forward-looking exercise. Communities in the Alto Rio Içá face mounting threats from organized crime, illegal logging, and weak state presence. Yet they have a clear vision: formal recognition of an Indigenous Territory that will secure food systems, safeguard sacred places, and protect forests and waters for future generations. By synthesizing social and biological data, RI 33 offers evidence to support that demand, strengthening a decades-long movement of return and reaffirmation.

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Protecting the Alto Rio Içá is more than conserving a patch of forest. It is to acknowledge the guardianship of its Indigenous peoples, to recognize their role in stewarding a living corridor that links Andes to Amazon, and to chart a path for conservation that is intercultural, grounded in rights, and durable.