Federal court in Brazil rules against Wildlife Works’ REDD project on Indigenous Ka’apor territory
The court granted an injunction that temporarily suspends the REDD project.
US-based REDD project developer Wildlife Works is developing a REDD project in the Alto Turiaçu Indigenous Territory in the State of Maranhão, Brazil. But since 2023, the Council of the Indigenous Ka’apor, Tuxa Ta Pame, has opposed the carbon trading project.
On 30 May 2025, a Federal Court in Maranhão granted an injunction that temporarily suspends the REDD project and bars Wildlife Works and its representatives from carrying out meetings, the development of technical or operational measures, and administrative or business actions related to the project.
The project is on hold until the legitimacy of the organisations involved and the validity of the consultation process have been clarified in court.
The Ka’apor Council accuses Wildlife Works of not conducting a process of free, prior and informed consent with the Ka’apor people. Wildlife Works has established contact with the Ka’apor Ta Hury Association, which states that it is in agreement with the project.
But the Ka’apor Ta Hury Association does not represent all of the Ka’apor. The Federal Court ruling states that,
The fact that a significant group of the Ka’apor people, under the leadership of the Tuxa Ta Pame Council, expressly declares its opposition to the implementation of the project and alleges a lack of effective participation in the consultation, undermines the democratic legitimacy of the consent process conducted to date.
Sign the petition
Rainforest Rescue has set up a petition in support of the Tuxa Ta Pame. More than 41,400 individuals have signed the petition. In addition a letter is open to signatures from organisations until 15 July 2025. So far, almost 40 organisations from around the world have signed on.
To: Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara;
President of FUNAI, Joenia Wapichana;
Coordinator of the 6th Chamber of the Attorney General's Office — Indigenous Peoples and traditional communitiesLadies and Gentlemen,
For two years, the leaders of the Tuxa Ta Pame Council of the Indigenous Ka’apor people have been complaining to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) and FUNAI about rights violations on their territory in Maranhão by the US company Wildlife Works. According to the lawsuits, the company wants to carry out a project to generate carbon credits on the Indigenous land of Alto Turiaçu in the Amazon region in violation of national and international laws.
In January 2024, the Ka’apor Indigenous Council officially informed the company in a letter that it did not accept the presence of foreign persons in connection with the carbon credit project on their land and demanded the immediate withdrawal and cessation of all activities.
Wildlife Works has not obtained free, prior and informed consent for the project from the Ka’apor, as required by Convention 169 of the UN’s International Labor Organization (ILO), which Brazil has ratified.
Despite all of this, the company continues to hold meetings and gatherings in various villages in the area and disregards the decisions of the Indigenous leaders. Wildlife Works’ activities and promises also lead to conflict among the Ka’apor, making the area, which has suffered for decades from encroachment by loggers, poachers and ranchers, even more vulnerable.
Wildlife Works began encroaching on the Indigenous land of the Ka’apor when the company was not even registered in Brazil — which is illegal.
In light of the deteriorating situation, in October 2024, the Ka’apor Indigenous Council filed a lawsuit in Federal Court against Wildlife Works, the Indigenous authority Funai and the federal government. It called for a halt to any and all of the company’s activities in Alto Turiaçu and for the federal government and Funai to carry out inspection and control actions in the Ka’apor territory, preventing the entry of national and/or foreign companies that promote carbon credit trading, especially as there are no standards for this in Brazil.
We ask Your Excellencies to take urgent measures to prevent the company from entering Indigenous land and continuing to violate the rights of the Ka’apor people in their own territory.
Yours faithfully,
Statement of Repudiation – In the Name of the Truth of the Ka’apor People
I, Ruruhu Ka’apor, local coordinator of the Guardians of the Alto Turiaçu Indigenous Land (Maranhão, Brazil) and a young leader of the Ka’apor people, hereby express my repudiation of the statements and publications made by Tuxa Tá Pame, who has no legitimacy or authorization to represent the Ka’apor people.
What is being spread by this individual is false. The project being questioned was invited by us, the Ka’apor people ourselves, based on a process of free, prior, and informed consultation, as guaranteed by our original rights and Convention 169 of the ILO.
Decisions about our territory are made by the true and legitimate leaders of the Ka’apor people, in accordance with our own forms of organization. Tuxa Tá Pame does not speak for us. He did not take part in our collective decision-making and has no support from traditional leadership or the Forest Guardians.
Our people fight bravely to protect the Alto Turiaçu Indigenous Land. We will not allow false leaders to misuse the name of the Ka’apor to spread disinformation or mislead society.
We demand respect for our autonomy, our decisions, and our truth.
Hopefully, on further consideration, the court will make the ban permanent.