*4.1. Study Area*

Brazil extends over 8,511,965 km<sup>2</sup> and includes 724 indigenous lands (ILs) covering a total area of 1,173,770 km2 and accounting for 14% of the country's territory [48]. Most ILs are concentrated in the Legal Amazon, representing 23% of the Amazon territory) [49]. The indigenous people from the Tapirapé ethnicity live in the Serra do Urubu Branco region, Mato Grosso State, a region of tropical forest with typical Amazonian flora and fauna interspersed with clean and closed fields. The Tapirapé exploit this environment alternating agriculture, hunting, gathering, and fishing according to the time of year [49,50]. Farmers´villages have traditionally been in the vicinity of dense forests on high, non-flooding lands. Currently, the Tapirapé ethnic group is made up of approximately 700 individuals living in six tribes with maximum and minimum distances from the main tribe of 70 km and 10 km, respectively. The main tribe is in the municipality of Confresa, Mato Grosso State (Figure 3). Tapirapé people interact frequently with individuals from other ethnic tribes at social events, hunt parties, and other activities.

**Figure 3.** Map showing the exact geographical location of the sites sampled in the present study.
