Paraguay’s Indigenous Paĩ Tavyterã communities fight invaders, fires and drought

Rosalba Gomez says she remembers many fires throughout her childhood: bright orange flames feeding on the natural grasslands surrounding her community, engulfing homes, trees and animals. Her parents spent hours in their food garden, known as kokúe, where they planted corn, manioc and beans. During the dry season, they burned the plot to improve soil quality and revitalize the land. But they had to be careful. High temperatures, strong winds and low humidity in Paraguay’s Amambay department, where some Indigenous Paĩ Tavyterã peoples live, often caused fires to spread out of control. Native fruit and medicinal plants were lost in the blaze, still to be recovered to this day. “We lost a lot,” Gomez, a Paĩ leader from the Ita Guasu community, tells Mongabay in a video call. “Even our house would burn.” About 25 years ago, a Paĩ leader traveled to Bolivia, where he was taught by other Indigenous peoples how to make fires in a more controlled way. The method involved creating a barrier around the kokúe to contain the flames. This helped, Gomez says, and for a while there were fewer fires. “Before, people didn’t have that awareness,” she says. “But after they realized what they were losing, they began to control it.” While the Paĩ learned how to control their fires, they haven’t been able to control the actions of their neighbors. In recent years, Paĩ communities have found themselves surrounded by cattle ranches and soybean plantations. Residents say the landowners cut down forests, destroy native…This article was originally published on Mongabay