People of the Forest

People of the Forest is an impact organization centered in Indigenous food sovereignty and forest restoration in the Brazilian Amazon. In collaboration with the Yawanawá People of Aldeia Mutum (Mutum Village, Acre), we help regenerate degraded land through agroforestry while strengthening food sovereignty, ecological leadership, knowledge sharing, seed-saving, and community resilience. Our work is grounded in the ethos that the Forest and Its People are One Living System, and follows a biocultural Cycle of Resilience: Thriving Forests support Food Sovereignty, which builds Healthy Communities, which in turn brings Active Stewardship, resulting in Thriving Forests. We prioritize Indigenous governance and consent through council process with chiefs and community leadership, on-the-ground work alongside stewards and families, and a train-the-trainers model designed for adaptation across other Indigenous communities and bioregions.