Imagine your home is worth more destroyed than intact... Climate Activist— Imagine your home is worth more destroyed than intact—and that you must constantly fight to protect what is yours.
This is the reality of the Kayapo tribe of Brazil—indigenous people who call the lush Amazon rainforest home. But they have tackled the problem in a unique way, translating their warrior culture into grassroots advocacy, and partnering with organizations like EDF.
Find out how the Kayapo are protecting their home from deforestation—and what you can do to help.
This struggle is not theirs alone. In fact, deforestation adds more climate pollution to the atmosphere than all the cars and trucks in the world combined. How do we solve the problem when it's more economical to destroy forests than to protect them?
Here at EDF, we believe the solution is obvious: Change the profit motive. Make forests more valuable alive than dead. Lower global emissions in a way that protects and benefits indigenous communities like the Kayapo.
That's the idea behind a global policy effort we helped pioneer, known as REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation), in which a state, jurisdiction or country that commits to reducing deforestation below an established baseline would receive valuable credits to sell in carbon markets, like that of California.
But we can't do it alone. No one knows the Amazon as well as its indigenous tribes. That's why we're working with indigenous organizations to help them protect their lands and benefit from REDD programs.
I have worked closely with the Kayapo people and their leaders for a decade, in efforts to protect both their homes and our own. I hope our slideshow helps to give you a glimpse into the lives of these warriors-turned-activists, and inspires you to support their efforts to stop deforestation.
 Thank you for your activism and support,
Steve Schwartzman
Director, Tropical Forest Policy 
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