South America is home to the largest concentration of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact (PIACI) on Earth. Living deep within the Amazon and Chaco forests, the areas the PIACI inhabit harbor biodiversity in its richest form and greatly contribute to climate stability. As they face increasingly escalating threats from mining, logging, and encroachment, their survival depends on securing their territories and forests.
While the situation of Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon is relatively well known, the dire situation of those living in the Chaco Forest—the second-largest forest after the Amazon, and one of the areas most threatened by deforestation—is not. The Chaco and the Amazon regions are interdependent, as the Chaco recycles water from the flying Amazonian rivers. These atmospheric rivers carry around 20 billion tons of water a day, providing crucial rainfall and regulating the climate for the entire continent, which in turn contributes to global climate regulation. If the Chaco is cleared, it will affect both the Amazon and the Chaco, with devastating consequences for their biodiversity. Respecting the rights of the Indigenous Peoples who live and steward these forests is vital to their survival and to the planet as a whole.
Ayoreo Peoples in Paraguay
The Indigenous Peoples living in isolation in the Chaco are the last PIACI on the continent outside of the Amazon Basin. The Ayoreo are the largest of this group, whose current numbers, estimated between 80 and 150 individuals, are an indication of the extreme situation these forest Peoples face, with extinction looming.
The traditional territory of the Ayoreo Peoples in Paraguay occupies approximately 110,000 square kilometers in the northern Chaco region. Roughly 18,000 square kilometers of this territory remains intact, but most of it is classified as National Protected Areas. While Paraguayan law guarantees Indigenous Peoples’ rights, many communities struggle to secure legal ownership within their traditional territory, resulting in land disputes. To date, only around 2,000 square kilometers remain under Ayoreo control. The Ayoreo want to continue their lives in their forest territory. Therefore, environmental monitoring of these areas, by the Ayoreo and their allies is crucial to their defense and survival.
Gotó and Oide from the Ayoreo community of Ijnapui prepare dajudie leaves to extract fibers for weaving.
Today, the Ayoreo men living on the periphery of industrialized society resort to selling their labor, such as to cattle ranches and infrastructure projects, while Ayoreo women’s economic strategies center primarily on weaving. They weave their relationship with their territory, their families, their communities, and their own histories through their weaving tradition with fabric made from threads of dajudie fiber collected within their territories, imbuing these fabric-texts with their cultural heritage. “Our mothers taught us this craft. Today, we carry on the tradition passed down by them,” says Chise Etacore, an oithedie (weaver).
The colors evoke forest scenery, and the designs resemble the symbols of the Ayoreo clans and their natural relatives, such as the anteater’s footprint, tones from their skyline, deer tracks, or snake scales. Their designs reflect their efforts to remain connected to the elements of their territory and culture amid current realities and challenges. These beautiful weavings are no longer just for their own use; they are now being sold to support their families and communities. “Our main activity is working with dajudie, and we want it to be ongoing and steady. The weaving of dajudie fabrics must not stop, and the search for sales must not stop either,” says Eremilda Chiqueno, oithedie.
A bag is woven from dajudie fibers in the anchingiane (rattlesnake) design.
Support and Survival
The Amotocodie Initiative is working with Ayoreo communities to protect the Paraguayan Chaco and defend the rights of the Ayoreo Peoples through legal defense, territorial monitoring, community empowerment, and environmental conservation. The Ayoreo have intensified their interest in effectively monitoring their territory in order to defend and protect it, and to formulate strategies for subsistence, contingency, and resilience. In partnership with Quipa Collective, a multidisciplinary collective of activists, community leaders, and systems thinkers committed to protecting the planet’s vast biocultural heritage, they support a number of processes crucial to the community’s survival.
Together with Ayoreo experts and community members, the Amotocodie Initiative monitors deforestation and fires in the north of the Paraguayan Chaco, the traditional Ayoreo territory, both on the ground and via satellite. It monitors and protects Ayoreo groups living in isolation by registering signals to identify areas where isolated Peoples are present, thereby preventing forced contact. The Ayoreo are the key actors in this work to protect their uncontacted relatives.
Additionally, the Amotocodie Initiative supports the processes of Ayoreo communities in defense of their environmental, territorial, and cultural rights, contributing to defending their right to avoid contact and to self-determination of the Ayoreo who live in isolation. Most importantly, its focus is on the defense of the Ayoreo Peoples’ right to avoid contact and on promoting and protecting the self-determination of the Ayoreo who live in isolation.
Traces of existence: the footprint of a member of the Ayoreo family living in isolation. Photograph taken on a dirt road near Ijnapui, in the central Chaco.
The Amotocodie Initiative, the If Not Us Then Who? organization, and Quipa Collective are working in close collaboration to highlight this dire situation of the Ayoreo and bring their voices forward.
***During London Climate Action Week (June 20-28, 2026), the exhibition “Weave The Heart Beyond The Map” will be held June 22-25, with an opening reception from 3:30 to 5:30 pm, June 22. A PIACI panel will be held from 8:45-10:30 am on June 24 at Rights & Nature Hub, The Stables, MYO King's Cross, 2 Trematon Walk, London. More information: info@quipa.org.***
--Miguel Lovera, Ph.D is an agronomist who has dedicated his career to the conservation of plant genetic resources. He currently serves as an advisor to the Ayoreo Peoples and the Amotocodie Initiative. Miriam Anne Frank is an independent consultant and applied anthropologist working on Indigenous Peoples’ issues, focusing on environmental and human rights.
View the exhibition “Weave The Heart Beyond The Map,” which showcases new photography by Sara Aliaga Ticona and a film by Jaye Renold from If Not Us Then Who? made with Ayoreo communities from the Paraguayan Chaco. The film, “Weaving Eami,” documents the struggle to protect the Chaco forests amid rapid deforestation, international business interests, and criminalization. In the Ayoreo community of Ijnapui, sightings of forest Ayoreo who continue to live in isolation have increased dramatically following the rapid deforestation of a neighboring ranch. It was the site of a key traditional territory, with abundant water, food, and dajudie, the plant from which Ayoreo have made a vast array of vital equipment throughout their history as a People, including their beautiful weavings. This plant exemplifies a rich ancestral knowledge held by Ayoreo women rooted in the unique Chaco ecosystem— one that is under grave threat in a country with one of the highest deforestation rates in the world and a dearth of political will to halt it.
Watch the trailer for a short documentary, "Weaving Eami" on the Ayoreo Peoples by filmmaker Jaye Renold from If Not Us Then Who?, exploring the trauma of contact and the path to community healing. The exhibition “Weave The Heart Beyond The Map” is part of their ongoing global awareness campaigns that challenge unjust policies and advocate for greater rights to protect the planet, in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and allies.
Top photo: Ayoreo community of Ijnapui in the Central Chaco, Paraguay.
All Photos by Sara Aliaga Ticona / If Not Us Then Who?.
