Sixteen Peoples, One Fire Plan for the Xingu

Founded in 2021 in honor of Yawalapíti leader Cacique Aritana, Instituto Aritana represents 16 Indigenous peoples across roughly 8,000 residents of the Xingu Indigenous Territory in Mato Grosso, an island of forest surrounded by soy, corn, and cotton monoculture. In May 2026, communities from the Alto Xingu region presented 15 Community Fire Management Plans, the product of five years of work translating traditional knowledge about when and how to burn into formal plans submitted to Brazil's federal fire agency, PrevFogo. The plans support Indigenous-led brigades, including groups like the Kamayurá Fire Brigade, that carry out early-season controlled burns to strip away dry fuel before it can feed the intense late-season fires that increasingly threaten Xingu forests.