Strong and muscular, the jaguar is the largest cat in the Americas and the third largest in the world, after the lion and the tiger. Its characteristic black patches act as a form of camouflage in dense vegetation — yet many still fall victim to hunters. Today, industrial agriculture is the biggest threat to the jaguar's survival.

According to estimates, there are still 60,000 jaguars in the wild. These nimble hunters prefer densely forested areas, but are also present in wetlands, savannas and semi-deserts. The largest jaguar population lives in the Brazilian Pantanal wetland area on the Bolivian border. However, even this species-rich biosphere reserve is under threat from industrialization and deforestation.

The Amazon bursts its banks at least once a year, flooding many areas of rainforest. The jaguars then shelter in the treetops and hunt, eat and sleep there for up to four months a year. Even though jaguars can weigh up to 100 kilograms, they are very skilled climbers and can easily reach the treetops.

Thick rainforests that served as a good habitat for jaguars used to be common in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso in the southern part of the Amazon. But landowners have deforested the area and replaced the trees with soybean crops. The harvest is used for industrial livestock production or exported to Europe. Further deforestation threatens hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of habitat.

At birth, jaguar cubs are blind and can't see until after nearly two weeks. Mothers do most of the rearing and feed the babies for a half year, although occasionally fathers also take care of their offspring. At the age of one to two years, they leave their parents and seek a new area of their own. A jaguar needs a range of 25 to 150 square kilometers in order to survive.

The jaguar is on the list of endangered species and trading its fur is banned. Although the total number of animals has declined in recent years, the jaguar is still not at the edge of extinction. In some areas, their number has even increased. It was once seriously endangered in Mexico, for example, but recently 4,800 jaguars were counted in the country — an increase of 20 percent since 2010.

The Munduruku people live mainly in forest regions and riverbanks, in villages spread along the Tapajos River in the Brazilian states of Para, Amazonas and Mato Grosso. With an estimated population of 12,000 to 15,000 people, the Munduruku are the most numerous indigenous group along the free-flowing Tapajos River.

The dwellers of the Sawre Muybu Indigenous Land have sought for at least three centuries to officially demarcate their territory. The 178,000-hectare area includes rainforest that is threatened by illegal loggers and mining — and more recently, by the construction of reservoirs for hydropower.

Munduruku people live largely as they have for centuries. Villages are represented by women known as "cacicas." Maria Aniceia Akay Munduruku, from the upper Tapajos, has taken part in her people's movement against the construction of hydropower dams, including by demarcating indigenous land. She doesn't speak Portuguese: Her husband helps her to communicate with others outside the village.

The Tapajos River is the essence of life for the indigenous Munduruku people. They depend on its water for sustenance, and to get around. The waters teem with vitality — there are 324 identified species of fish living in the waters, beside Amazonian manatees and giant otters.

Along the river also live hundreds of species of birds, lizards and amphibians. Tapirs and giant anteaters ply the riverbanks, while jaguars and ocelot also prowl the rainforest and savannah. The region is among the world's most important for rare land and water species.

Munduruku children attend the village school, under the guidance of indigenous teachers. In this picture, girls play in the shared classroom at Sawre Muybu village during their holiday break. Animals such as monkeys, parrots, dogs and capybaras are welcome among the children.

Manioc flour is the staple food in Munduruku villages — cassava planted on the family farm is crushed, shredded and then roasted in a wood-burning stove. Also sweet potatoes, yams and bananas are grown. Although Munduruku consume mainly food grown in the local fields, items such as sugar, salt and coffee have also made their way into the traditional diet. They are purchased in town once a month.

An aerial view shows the Teles Pires dam, on the homonymous tributary to the Tapajos. The lighter green color indicates the area of forest that was submerged — critics point out that rotting vegetation from inundated forest produces considerable quantities of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. The specter of ongoing drought also casts doubt on future usability of such hydropower stations.

This aerial image shows construction at the Sao Manoel hydropower dam, which is supposed to begin operation by January 2018. Partially funded by Chinese companies, the cost of the project is estimated to reach €600 million euros. The plant, located on the Teles Pires River, will have the capacity to generate 700 megawatts of electricity.

If built, the Sao Luiz do Tapajos dam would inundate this stretch of the river — including its shallows, rapids, beaches, waterfalls, inlets and shores. Once full, it would create a reservoir the size of New York City. Planned dams could flood up to 7 percent of indigenous territory, resulting in loss of land, poorer water quality and less fish — deeply affecting Mundukuru livelihood.