Alessandra Korap is a Munduruku indigenous woman leader from Indigenous Reserve Praia do Índio in the Brazilian Amazon who fearlessly defends their rights to demarcation and their traditional territory against illegal extractive activities such as mining, logging, and palm hearts extraction.
She is the first woman to coordinate the Associação Indígena Pariri (Pariri Indigenous Association), formed by thirty-five families from ten indigenous groups in the Médio Tapajós region in Itaituba.
She leads the Munduruku people’s fight to uphold free, prior, and informed consent for construction of megaprojects in the protected areas of the Amazon, such as the São Luiz do Tapajós Hydroelectric Project and the Ferrogrão railroad.
Alessandra’s fierce stance to fight for their collective rights made her vulnerable to attacks. On November 30, 2019, unknown individuals raided her home and took her personal documents, phones, and digital files. She experienced physical and political harassment in the region and received threat messages through WhatsApp.
Despite the intensifying intimidation and threats against her and her family, Alessandra continues to fight for her community. In 2020, Alessandra was awarded the 2020 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights prize for her invaluable work in defending their rights and ancestral lands in Brazil.
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