He is an indigenous spiritual leader of the Ashaninka people of the Amônia River. He is widely recognised as a social entrepreneur, environmental activist and human rights defender. Benki Piyãko will be awarded the 43rd Niwano Peace Prize in May.
For the last 15 years, Benki Piyãko has been committed to leading environmental and reforestation projects in the service of the Amazon rainforest and his people. As an environmental steward, he has fostered deep connections between humans and nature, and his efforts are appreciated not just by his local communities but by communities all over the world.
He founded the Indigenous Ayahuasca Conference, a global platform led by indigenous peoples that aims to protect the sacred ayahuasca traditions and the rights of indigenous communities. The platform also raises indigenous voices against commercialisation and westernisation. He also founded the Yorenka Tasorentsi Institute in Marechal Thaumaturgo, Acre State.
Through these initiatives, he is spearheading efforts to reforest degraded areas, develop sustainable agroforestry and farming systems, and raise awareness among local and global communities of the importance of environmental protection and strengthening Indigenous culture.
As a guardian of his people’s ancestral traditions, Benki Piyãko has dedicated his life to sharing his knowledge of the forest, traditional medicine and Ashaninka spirituality. An influential voice in national and international forums, he coordinates local and global initiatives focused on environmental protection and strengthening Indigenous communities in Brazil and other countries. He is also widely recognised for his wisdom, his ability to engage in dialogue, and his unwavering commitment to preserving the planet’s environmental and cultural heritage.
In 2007, as a spiritual leader, Benki Piyãko established the Yorenka Ãtame Centre (Forest Knowledge Centre) by uniting 80 young individuals and educating them in forest preservation. Others soon joined them, and now thousands of people are collaborating to reforest and manage the land.
Over the last decade, the centre has achieved remarkable results, planting over two million trees and making significant progress in animal conservation. It has protected species such as turtles, monkeys, wild pigs, tapirs and wild bees by mobilising large groups of young leaders and communities, and by combining traditional knowledge with modern techniques.
His movement connects people to the land and the land to its people. He believes that he is connected to the spiritual world, which guides him by showing him signs indicating whether something is good or bad. His latest initiative is the creation of a medical centre that will combine traditional science with spiritual and healing knowledge from the forest. Cultural and holistic well-being, ecology and traditional knowledge and training are among his key priorities when it comes to serving his people.
He was previously honoured by the Brazilian government for his dedication to human rights in 2004, received the Human Rights Award in Weimar, Germany in 2013, and was awarded the Culture for Peace Award by the Culture and Diversity Foundation and the Jacques Chirac Foundation in 2020. He and his Ashaninka community also received the United Nations Development Programme’s Equator Prize in 2017 for their environmental programme.
Benki Piyãko will receive the 43rd Niwano Peace Prize this year in recognition of his immense efforts to defend the land and culture of his people, the indigenous Ashaninka tribe of the Brazilian Amazon.
The award ceremony will be held on 12 May 2026, in Tokyo. The prize includes a certificate, a trophy, and a cash prize of 20 million yen (about US$ 125,000).
The Niwano Peace Foundation established the Niwano Peace Prize to honour and encourage individuals and organizations that have contributed significantly to inter-religious cooperation, thereby furthering the cause of world peace, and to make their achievements known as widely as possible.
In this way, the Foundation hopes both to enhance inter-religious understanding and cooperation and to encourage the emergence of still more persons devoted to working for world peace. The prize is named in honour of Nikkyo Niwano, the founder and first president of the lay Buddhist organization Rissho Kosei-kai.
For Niwano, peace was not merely an absence of conflict among nations, but a dynamic harmony in the inner lives of people as well as in our communities, nations, and the world. Seeing peace as the goal of Buddhism, Niwano devoted much of the latter half of his life to promoting world peace, especially through inter-religious discussion and cooperation. (Pedro Santacruz) – (Photo: Courtesy of World Ayahuasca Forum)
