The Kayapó Indians of the southeastern Amazon have an impressive record of protecting their lands from invasion and deforestation in one of the world’s most threatened forests. Growing up in Toronto, Barbara Zimmerman never dreamed that she would spend much of her adult life deep in the Amazon, working with the Kayapó nation to preserve their traditional lands. When she first encountered the tribe on a research expedition in the southeastern Amazon forest, though, she recognized a tremendous conservation opportunity - a chance to keep a huge swath of tropical forest intact in a region where forest was steadily disappearing.

In the early days of CI’s Kayapó initiative, the goal of setting up a research station and small mahogany reserve in a single community seemed ambitious. Today the Kayapó territory is the single largest protected area in all the world's tropical forest, pristine lands that stand in stark contrast to the deforestation of adjacent areas. All fourteen communities of the Kayapó nation are working in partnership with CI to ensure that their land and people flourish, and they are demonstrating environmental leadership even outside their traditional boundaries. Barbara has been part of this exceptional journey every step of the way, making sure that the relationship between CI and the Kayapó has always been one of respect and trust.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Indigenous people: Barbara is an expert on the importance of indigenous peoples in conservation and the role conservation can play in helping indigenous groups maintain their traditional way of life.

Tropical forestry and ecology: Barbara's interest in the rainforests of the Amazon originally drew her to Brazil, and she earned both her master's and Ph.D. researching the region's tropical ecology.