There are approximately 189 distinct Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact (PIACI) in the Amazon Basin and the Gran Chaco. Land is Life partners with 11 Indigenous Peoples’ organizations and 8 non-governmental organizations in the eight countries of the Amazon and Gran Chaco where PIACI live to cooperate in ensuring effective prohibition against outside encroachment, aggression, forcible assimilation, and acts and processes of genocide.
Our program is active in the eight countries of the Amazon and Gran Chaco -Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela- where approximately 200 distinct Indigenous Peoples, over 10,000 Indigenous individuals, live in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact.
Advocating at national level, in partnership with Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, to promote the adoption of normative and national policies that recognize and protect the rights of PIACI. Providing resources to Indigenous Peoples living in areas shared with PIACI, to advance self-determination and the recognition and protection of territorial rights.
Positioning the recognition of PIACI rights at international human rights mechanisms, i.e. UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Universal Periodic Review, and others. Advancing the implementation of the 2012 OHCHR Protection guidelines for PIACI and recommendations of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Collaborating with Indigenous Peoples' organizations to ensure a robust defense against outside encroachment, aggression, forcible assimilation, and acts of genocide through legal, political and advocacy actions.
Equipping Indigenous Peoples’ communities with tools to map and demarcate their territories, as well as monitor and respond to threats against PIACI from illegal loggers, miners, and others.
The Protection of Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact (PIACI) program has contributed to progress in the following areas:
The overall defense and assertion of Indigenous Peoples’ collective rights to their lands, territories, and resources, and self-determination.
Preservation of Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge systems and protection of the most biodiverse areas of the planet.
Protection of Indigenous Peoples’ communities that are among the most vulnerable populations on Earth.
Indigenous Peoples and Water: Traditional Knowledge, Rights, Partnerships and Cooperation to Accelerate SDG 6 UN Water Conference Wednesday, 9 December 2026 8:30 to 9:45 Room 4 at the ADNEC Exhibition Centre
By Luisa Castañeda-Quintana, Executive Director, Land is Life Across forests, deserts, savannas, rivers, and international negotiation rooms, I have witnessed the same truth repeated in different forms: Indigenous Peoples are
By Tania Eulalia Martínez-Cruz, Independent Researcher Ëyuujk World Water Day 2026, under the theme “Water and Gender,” and 2026 World Water Report, titled Water for All: Rights and Equal
