https://rightsandresources.org/blog/meet-the-rri-collective-action-award...
In 2025, RRI marks 20 years of advancing the land, forest, and resource rights of Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and local communities, including the women and youth within them. To commemorate this milestone, we’re proud to launch the inaugural RRI Collective Action Award, which honors communities across Africa, Asia, and Latin America for their innovation, resilience, and commitment to sustainable livelihoods, nature protection, and traditional knowledge.
These are the three communities who are leading efforts to protect nature and preserve traditional knowledge for future generations:
Brazil: Xukuru do Ororubá Indigenous Collective
The Xukuru do Ororubá Indigenous Collective in Brazil are dedicated to regenerating their Sacred Territory, degraded since colonization, by blending food production with forest restoration, preserving ancestral knowledge, and promoting the well-being of all life within their land.
They believe that:
“Restoring the territory is a collective effort involving humans and non-humans, recognizing the roles of plants, animals, stones, and enchanted spiritual beings.”
Some of their inspiring achievements:
- They have planted over 50,000 trees in the past year and revitalized 360 hectares of degraded land.
- The Collective is currently restoring 14 springs, which are crucial for maintaining the community’s water supply in the semi-arid Caatinga Biome.
- They have integrated over 100 species of plants into the restoration efforts, with a particular focus on medicinal, nutritional, and ecological diversity.
Kenya: Nashulai Maasai Conservancy
Founded in 2016 by Maasai landowners across eight villages, Nashulai is East Africa’s first Indigenous- run conservancy. It was formed to reclaim and protect ancestral land from climate change, land commodification, and the exclusionary model of conservation.
Nashulai champions coexistence between wildlife, pastoralism, and human life by reviving Indigenous knowledge and combining it with innovative practices:
- 8 Maasai villages united under the conservancy model
- 5,000 acres of land restored and managed
- 28,520 people supported through community feeding programs
- 2,000+ children educated in culture and conservation .
As our colleagues from Nashulai have said so powerfully:
“The true Maasai story is about our relationship to our land, to our people, and our wildlife who share it.”
Indonesia :The Jargaria Indigenous Community of the Aru Islands
The Jargaria Indigenous Community of the Aru Islands are the leaders of the #SaveAru movement, one of Indonesia’s most influential grassroots environmental movements.
For more than 30 years, the Aru Peoples have mobilized to resist corporate land grabs and environmental destruction. Their work reached a turning point between 2013 and 2015, when they built national and international support to protect over 500,000 hectares of forest.
In 2022, a new law granted legal recognition and protection to the Aru Ursia-Urlima Indigenous Peoples, the result of decades of local organizing. The Aru resistance is rooted in culture, identity, and community, with elders, women, and youth all playing a role.
The principle of shared responsibility for protecting the land and sea (Mata Belang) has created the momentum needed to challenge forces seeking to exploit their territories.
As expressed by the community’s leaders: “The SaveAru movement is an organic movement that emerged on its own based on the awareness of the Aru Islands Indigenous Peoples.”
For 20 years, the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) has stood with Afro-descendant, Indigenous, and local communities as they safeguard their lands and territories, advance their rights, and defend the ecosystems essential to all life on Earth. This year, as we commemorate two decades of progress, we are proud to announce the inaugural RRI Collective Action Award.
This award celebrates the extraordinary achievements and efforts of communities across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, spotlighting their innovation, resilience, and unwavering commitment to sustainable livelihoods, protecting nature, and preserving traditional knowledge for future generations.
Communities recognized by the RRI Collective Action Award embody the intersection of resilience, tradition, and innovation. Their efforts show that safeguarding land rights is not just a cornerstone of social justice, but a critical solution to the global climate and biodiversity crises.
These communities work together to:
- Protect vital ecosystems, ensuring biodiversity thrives.
- Advocate for their community’s land rights while advancing their own collective governance models.
- Combat climate change through sustainable practices rooted in ancestral knowledge.
- Revitalize cultural heritage, connecting generations and preserving identities.
This award recognizes their achievements, often invisible to those outside their regions, inspires global audiences, and catalyzes further action to protect our planet.
