Tangareí Karipuna Ethno-environmental Institute
Building Institutional Foundations to Defend Indigenous Territory and Rights of the Karipuna of Rondônia
ABOUT IETKA
About Tangareí Karipuna Ethno-environmental Institute
IETKA emerged from the Karipuna People’s collective vision and the leadership of Adriano Karipuna, who began his environmental activism at age 14 and is now pursuing a law degree to better defend his community’s rights. Founded and registered in Porto Velho, Rondônia, this Indigenous-led organization operates with a clear mission: to protect Karipuna territory from invasions, address pressing socio-environmental challenges, strengthen cultural identity, and implement sustainable development initiatives that secure land rights and self-determination.
IETKA’s approach extends beyond traditional environmental conservation, embracing a holistic vision that recognizes the inseparable connection between Indigenous rights and environmental protection. The organization works to preserve not only the physical landscape but also the cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and spiritual practices that define the Karipuna People’s unique identity and relationship with their ancestral lands.
Led by Adriano Karipuna as Executive Director, the Institute focuses on four primary program areas: environmental monitoring and territorial protection, Indigenous rights advocacy, cultural preservation, and sustainable development initiatives. Each program operates under a governance structure that ensures transparency and community participation in all decision-making processes, maintaining alignment with traditional Karipuna values and practices.
Our Partnership
Our Partnership
Building Resilience Through Indigenous Leadership
Our partnership with Instituto Etnoambiental Tangareí Karipuna began in 2024when we met Adriano Karipuna during a visit to Portugal for a conference aspart of his ongoing advocacy work. His powerful testimony about the critical challenges facing Karipuna territory immediately resonated with us.
The Karipuna’s legitimacy comes from their ancestral connection to their territory, their deep knowledge of the land, and their role as its guardians for generations. Yet in today’s context, defending these inherent rights often requires navigating the imposed structures of Western legal and bureaucratic systems. Our initial support focused on helping IETKA establish the formal registration necessary to operate as a recognized entity—a costly and bureaucratic process that became necessary for the Karipuna to defend what has always been theirs. This meant working through the critical process of formal registration and completing the necessary legal paperwork—invisible but essential work that provides the Karipuna with institutional tools to advocate for their rights.
Currently, our support has evolved to helping establish IETKA’s Project Management Office —a critical infrastructure that enables the organization to develop effective responses to territorial threats while building long-term organizational capacity. They now have essential office equipment and are also beginning to develop basic project methodologies and creating frameworks for documenting and addressing the most pressing community needs.
Our collaboration rests on the fundamental understanding that the Karipuna community knows what they need. We provide flexible support that allows IETKA to implement strategies grounded in traditional knowledge and governance while navigating the complex realities of contemporary challenges.
IMPACT
Impact
The successful establishment of IETKA stands as a profound achievement in itself. In a region where Indigenous communities face systemic discrimination and structural barriers, the formal registration of an Indigenous- led organization represents both a political victory and a strategic milestone. Each bureaucratic hurdle overcome— each form filed, each signature secured, each official stamp obtained—marks a triumph against systems designed to exclude Indigenous voices from institutional power.
This formal recognition, hard-won against formidable odds, provides IETKA with the legal standing necessary to access resources, establish partnerships, and engage with governmental and non-governmental agencies on more equal footing. For the Karipuna, whose very existence has been threatened since their first contact with expeditions in the 1970s, creating their own organization with official recognition represents an assertion of sovereignty that goes beyond mere paperwork.
The Karipuna territory spans approximately 153,000 hectares in Rondônia, a state with one of Brazil’s highest deforestation rates, where Indigenous communities often face hostility from powerful agricultural and extractive interests. Between 2015 and 2021, satellite data revealed that Karipuna land lost 4,754 hectares of vegetation to illegal logging and land grabbing. Despite a government operation in July 2024 to remove illegal occupants, new invasions continue—a stark reminder of the persistent threats the community faces.
In this challenging context, IETKA’s current work to establish a Project Management Office represents a critical foundation for effective territorial defense. By creating systems to document threats, coordinate responses, and implement sustainable solutions, the organization is building the infrastructure necessary to protect not only the forest but the cultural practices and knowledge systems deeply intertwined with it.
Through IETKA, the Karipuna are addressing challenges Adriano and the community identified long ago: climate disruptions that alter traditional seasonal patterns, water contamination from surrounding agricultural activities, and threats to food sovereignty as deforestation destroys essential resources like açaí and chestnut trees. When Adriano says, “We defend the forest because it is just like a mother to us,” he articulates a relationship that IETKA now works to protect through formal institutional channels previously inaccessible to the community.
Perhaps most significantly, IETKA represents the Karipuna’s strategic adaptation to contemporary realities without compromising their fundamental values and identity. It embodies their determination to use every available tool— including those of the very system that has historically marginalized them—to protect their territory, culture, and future as a people.
Updates
Updates
News from the ground on projects, initiatives and collaborations.
Support
View this post on Instagram
Support
The challenges facing the Karipuna People and their territory require sustained support and solidarity. If you’re inspired by IETKA’s work defending Indigenous rights and protecting their lands in Rondônia, there are several ways to offer meaningful assistance:
For direct financial support to the Instituto, please contact Adriano Karipuna at adrianotangarei@gmail.com. Your contribution will help strengthen their capacity for territorial monitoring, emergency response, and long-term climate adaptation strategies.
Beyond financial support, IETKA welcomes technical assistance in areas such as web development, geospatial monitoring, sustainable development strategies, and legal advocacy. If you have expertise to share, reach out to explore collaboration possibilities.
You can also amplify IETKA’s voice by following and sharing their work through social media, helping raise awareness about the critical situation facing the Karipuna territory and the importance of Indigenous-led conservation.
Supporting Instituto Etnoambiental Tangareí Karipuna means believing in a vision where Indigenous sovereignty and environmental protection work hand in hand. It means standing with forest guardians who, despite facing enormous challenges, continue to defend not only their own future but a vital ecosystem upon which all life depends. As Adriano Karipuna reminds us, “We defend the forest because it is like a mother to us. A son protects his mother. And a mother protects her son.”
— Connect with IETKA —
Share
Tangareí Karipuna Ethno-environmental Institute
Building Institutional Foundations to Defend Indigenous Territory and Rights of the Karipuna of Rondônia
ABOUT IETKA
About Tangareí Karipuna Ethno-environmental Institute
IETKA emerged from the Karipuna People’s collective vision and the leadership of Adriano Karipuna, who began his environmental activism at age 14 and is now pursuing a law degree to better defend his community’s rights. Founded and registered in Porto Velho, Rondônia, this Indigenous-led organization operates with a clear mission: to protect Karipuna territory from invasions, address pressing socio-environmental challenges, strengthen cultural identity, and implement sustainable development initiatives that secure land rights and self-determination.
IETKA’s approach extends beyond traditional environmental conservation, embracing a holistic vision that recognizes the inseparable connection between Indigenous rights and environmental protection. The organization works to preserve not only the physical landscape but also the cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and spiritual practices that define the Karipuna People’s unique identity and relationship with their ancestral lands.
Led by Adriano Karipuna as Executive Director, the Institute focuses on four primary program areas: environmental monitoring and territorial protection, Indigenous rights advocacy, cultural preservation, and sustainable development initiatives. Each program operates under a governance structure that ensures transparency and community participation in all decision-making processes, maintaining alignment with traditional Karipuna values and practices.
Our Partnership
Our Partnership
Building Resilience Through Indigenous Leadership
Our partnership with Instituto Etnoambiental Tangareí Karipuna began in 2024when we met Adriano Karipuna during a visit to Portugal for a conference aspart of his ongoing advocacy work. His powerful testimony about the critical challenges facing Karipuna territory immediately resonated with us.
The Karipuna’s legitimacy comes from their ancestral connection to their territory, their deep knowledge of the land, and their role as its guardians for generations. Yet in today’s context, defending these inherent rights often requires navigating the imposed structures of Western legal and bureaucratic systems. Our initial support focused on helping IETKA establish the formal registration necessary to operate as a recognized entity—a costly and bureaucratic process that became necessary for the Karipuna to defend what has always been theirs. This meant working through the critical process of formal registration and completing the necessary legal paperwork—invisible but essential work that provides the Karipuna with institutional tools to advocate for their rights.
Currently, our support has evolved to helping establish IETKA’s Project Management Office —a critical infrastructure that enables the organization to develop effective responses to territorial threats while building long-term organizational capacity. They now have essential office equipment and are also beginning to develop basic project methodologies and creating frameworks for documenting and addressing the most pressing community needs.
Our collaboration rests on the fundamental understanding that the Karipuna community knows what they need. We provide flexible support that allows IETKA to implement strategies grounded in traditional knowledge and governance while navigating the complex realities of contemporary challenges.
IMPACT
Impact
The successful establishment of IETKA stands as a profound achievement in itself. In a region where Indigenous communities face systemic discrimination and structural barriers, the formal registration of an Indigenous- led organization represents both a political victory and a strategic milestone. Each bureaucratic hurdle overcome— each form filed, each signature secured, each official stamp obtained—marks a triumph against systems designed to exclude Indigenous voices from institutional power.
This formal recognition, hard-won against formidable odds, provides IETKA with the legal standing necessary to access resources, establish partnerships, and engage with governmental and non-governmental agencies on more equal footing. For the Karipuna, whose very existence has been threatened since their first contact with expeditions in the 1970s, creating their own organization with official recognition represents an assertion of sovereignty that goes beyond mere paperwork.
The Karipuna territory spans approximately 153,000 hectares in Rondônia, a state with one of Brazil’s highest deforestation rates, where Indigenous communities often face hostility from powerful agricultural and extractive interests. Between 2015 and 2021, satellite data revealed that Karipuna land lost 4,754 hectares of vegetation to illegal logging and land grabbing. Despite a government operation in July 2024 to remove illegal occupants, new invasions continue—a stark reminder of the persistent threats the community faces.
In this challenging context, IETKA’s current work to establish a Project Management Office represents a critical foundation for effective territorial defense. By creating systems to document threats, coordinate responses, and implement sustainable solutions, the organization is building the infrastructure necessary to protect not only the forest but the cultural practices and knowledge systems deeply intertwined with it.
Through IETKA, the Karipuna are addressing challenges Adriano and the community identified long ago: climate disruptions that alter traditional seasonal patterns, water contamination from surrounding agricultural activities, and threats to food sovereignty as deforestation destroys essential resources like açaí and chestnut trees. When Adriano says, “We defend the forest because it is just like a mother to us,” he articulates a relationship that IETKA now works to protect through formal institutional channels previously inaccessible to the community.
Perhaps most significantly, IETKA represents the Karipuna’s strategic adaptation to contemporary realities without compromising their fundamental values and identity. It embodies their determination to use every available tool— including those of the very system that has historically marginalized them—to protect their territory, culture, and future as a people.
Updates
Updates
News from the ground on projects, initiatives and collaborations.
Support
View this post on Instagram
Support
The challenges facing the Karipuna People and their territory require sustained support and solidarity. If you’re inspired by IETKA’s work defending Indigenous rights and protecting their lands in Rondônia, there are several ways to offer meaningful assistance:
For direct financial support to the Instituto, please contact Adriano Karipuna at adrianotangarei@gmail.com. Your contribution will help strengthen their capacity for territorial monitoring, emergency response, and long-term climate adaptation strategies.
Beyond financial support, IETKA welcomes technical assistance in areas such as web development, geospatial monitoring, sustainable development strategies, and legal advocacy. If you have expertise to share, reach out to explore collaboration possibilities.
You can also amplify IETKA’s voice by following and sharing their work through social media, helping raise awareness about the critical situation facing the Karipuna territory and the importance of Indigenous-led conservation.
Supporting Instituto Etnoambiental Tangareí Karipuna means believing in a vision where Indigenous sovereignty and environmental protection work hand in hand. It means standing with forest guardians who, despite facing enormous challenges, continue to defend not only their own future but a vital ecosystem upon which all life depends. As Adriano Karipuna reminds us, “We defend the forest because it is like a mother to us. A son protects his mother. And a mother protects her son.”
— Connect with IETKA —
Share
