YOUNG WARRIORS OF THE FOREST IN SEARCH OF A BETTER FUTURE (UPPER JURUÁ RIVER – AMAZON - BRAZIL)Benki Piyanko Ashaninka & Érika Fernandes-Pinto

Located in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest, inone of the most biodiverse regions of the world,near the Brazilian border with Peru, themunicipality of Marechal Taumaturgo/Acre State,has also a great richness in socio-cultural diversity,represented by indigenous peoples, ripariancommunities, rubber traps and family farmers, amidst a territory that consists predominantly ofprotected areas.

Tracaja(turtle)

management

Apicultureof native

bees

Rescuing and adapting the traditional knowledge, managing and recovering the forest and rivers,

creating food sustainability

Valuing traditional medicine and spiritual pratices connecting people and nature for a new consciousness

Despite its bio-cultural wealth, this region lacks alternative job options that place value on theforest and traditional knowledge, and is now one of Brazil's municipalities with one of thehighest levels of social deprivation and one of the lowest indexes of human development. Thelack of socially and environmentally sustainable economic alternatives, combined withpressures induced by population growth, changes in occupations and land uses, as well asdynamic border relations, threatens the integrity of the protected territories and place thesurvival of indigenous and non-indigenous peoples from this region at risk.

Despite advances made in methods of social organization and the achievements of popularmovements, associations and community organizations still find difficulties in preparing andproposing projects intended to manage and regulate public policies. Young people, especially,are suffering from the consequences of these processes; from the lack of job opportunities andthe continued loss of social and cultural values, which generate further environmental andcultural degradation.

But, by the strength of the forest and from the people who have fought against these modelsand continue to resist them, there sprouts seeds for the possibility of another path. These seedshave found rich and fertile soil in the hearts of young people with values, warriors in search of abetter future, who have united to build a collective project geared to restore social, economic,environmental, and cultural sustainability.

Created in October 2004, coming together voluntarily, aggregating roughly 30 young people, thegroup "Young Warriors of the Forest in Search of a Better Future" has been operating under theguidance of the indigenous leader and agroforestry agent Benki Piyanko Ashaninka, combiningconservation and environmental recovery with an appreciation for the human spirit and theforest.

In late 2012, the group was formalized by creating a legally constituted association. Currently, thisassociation is building a center, named "The Hummingbird's Dream at the Sun's Ray," directed toorganize, train, and empower young leaders from this municipality, while, simultaneously,employing ecological restoration models, development practices, and sustainable production andmanagement. Likewise, they are recovering and adopting traditional knowledge and valuingvarious traditional medicines and spiritual practices that are associated with the conservation ofnature.

The center is being constructed in a land reform settlement, which currently is being utilized aspasture lands for cattle production. This initiative will help disseminate new practices and newways of relating with nature, to families residing in this region. This project is part of a collectivedream, a product of the union and work of young Amazonian Brazilians who are building not onlytheir futures, but setting an example for all mankind.

benkipiyanko@yahoo.com.brerikalencois@yahoo.com.br