Brought to you by See Through Stories and Open Planet Studios, in collaboration with Capacity Foundation, THE CHIEFS is a short documentary film that follows Cacique Álvaro Tukano, a renowned Indigenous leader from the Brazilian Amazon, and his community’s frontline fight to protect their ancestral land against illegal deforestation. 

We work in close partnership with Indigenous Amazonian communities to build The Shield, the AI-powered technology that helps frontline defenders better protect their land by giving them tools & real-time data to do so. Featured in THE CHIEFS, this technology helps Indigenous leaders like Álvaro Tukano document illegal deforestation and bring evidence to law enforcement. Capacity’s technology is currently safeguarding 8 million hectares of critical rainforest (twice the size of Switzerland) in strong partnership with 6 Amazonian territories.

The Amazon Rainforest is earth’s most biodiverse and endangered region — storing vast amounts of carbon, regulating global weather patterns, and supporting millions of species. It holds 20% of the world’s freshwater - acting as a global biological water pump, where trees pull water from the soil and release it into the atmosphere, bringing reliable rain to South America, Central America, and even parts of North America, Europe and Africa. 

We are in the midst of the planet’s sixth mass extinction. The Amazon Rainforest is earth’s most biodiverse and endangered region. Already devastated by decades of illegal soy production, mining, and cattle farming, the Amazon is narrowly at its critical tipping point. At 19-20% deforestation today, crossing the 20-25% could trigger most likely an irreversible collapse of the rainforest into a dry savanna. This would jeopardise 20% of the world’s freshwater, release up to 140 billion tonnes of CO₂, and drive more than 3 million species toward extinction - with effects for the whole world, such as:

• Destabilization of global rainfall systems → major agricultural systems lose reliable rain, face longer droughts, and become vulnerable to crop failure 

• South American crop yields decline (beef, soy, coffee, chocolate, grains)→ food prices surge, globally 

• Livestock systems collapse

• Global food supply chain shocks result in chronic shortages, spikes in commodity prices, and supply chain interruptions in dozens of industries.

• Increased hunger & geopolitical instability 

• Accelerated global warming as the carbon store of the Amazon is released → more heat waves, more crop failures, more pests & diseases, more extreme weather

It’s one of the largest systemic risks to global food security — and one of the most preventable.

At the current rate of deforestation, scientists predict that we only have 4.5 years left to stop all deforestation and save the Amazon biome. 

The film follows Cacique Álvaro Tukano. Chiefs are long-standing guardians of the Amazon whose knowledge, culture, and leadership have protected the forest for thousands of years.  Learn more about the Chiefs we collaborate with here.

The Shield is Capacity’s first mission, aiming to safeguard 280mm hectares of protected Indigenous land in the Amazon rainforest by helping Indigenous “Guardians of Nature” fight illegal deforestation, mining and farming to protect the Amazon Rainforest using cutting edge frontier technology. 

100% of your donation goes to Capacity’s Mission 1: The Shield. This includes building the AI tools, funding the tech team, and implementing them directly with Indigenous communities on the frontline. Your donation funds:

1/ The tech team building The Shield

• AI engineers & data science

• Geospatial design 

• UX and product 

• Infrastructure
  

2/ AI-powered satellite monitoring

• 24/7 satellite monitoring

• Illegal activity alert systems (deforestation, mining, invasions)

• Data verification and mapping

• Support for community-led response coordination

3/ Implementation with Indigenous communities

• Training Indigenous environmental monitors

• Translation & adaptation to local languages

• Field coordinators and local liaisons

• Hardware, connectivity, and equipment

• Travel and logistics for implementation teams

Capacity Foundation is the world’s first not-for-profit venture studio using cutting-edge technology, entrepreneurial speed, and local partnerships to build scalable solutions to end biodiversity loss globally. Some key facts about Capacity: 

• Based in Switzerland

• Team of 11 employees, with half based in Brazil

• Over 20 passionate  volunteers (legal, public policy, comms, design, marketing)

• 300+ person member network of world leading conservationists

• Founded in 2025 by Lawrence Leuschner, serial entrepreneur & determined environmentalist 

Yes, and please do. ShareTHE CHIEFS‍ and its message with your network.

Capacity is also supported by volunteers, and a member network of over 300 of the world’s leading conservationists and biodiversity protectors globally. Apply to join our network here.