Brazil Legalizes Indigenous Land Titles

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

http://forests.org/

11/29/97

OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE

Despite significant delay, the demarcation of 22 indigenous

territories in the Amazon region of Brazil has been completed.

Approximately 62% of the indigenous lands in Brazil now have permanent

legal title.

g.b.

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Title: Opinion: Brazil Legalizes Indigenous Land Titles

Source: Environmental News Network

Status: Copyrighted, contact source for reprint permissions

Date: Fri Nov 28 19:23:39 EST 1997

Byline: By Beto Borges

SAN FRANCISCO, California, November 28, 1997 (ENS) - Four years behind

schedule on the Constitutional decision of 1988 to have all indigenous

lands in Brazil demarcated by October of 1993 (Article 67), the

federal government has taken another step in the right direction.

Presidential Decrees have now finalized the demarcation process for 22

indigenous territories in the Amazon region, totaling 8.6 million

hectares (33,196 square miles).

With this important initiative, the Indigenous Movement in Brazil has

achieved permanent legal title for 61.7% of all indigenous lands in

the country, which are distributed in 565 territories, encompassing

about 100 million hectares (396,000 square miles) or 11% of Brazil.

It is important to understand, however, that 21 out of these 22

territories, were already scheduled to be demarcated before President

Cardoso took office. This is not to diminish the importance of his

actions, but to put into perspective that it has taken too long to

complete these demarcations. There is still a lot to be done for the

current administration to uphold the constitutional rights of

indigenous peoples.

In January of 1996, President Cardoso approved Decree 1775 as an

attempt to improve the demarcation process by allowing conflicting

interests to appeal against the demarcation of indigenous territories.

Unfortunately, the new Decree brought the demarcation of indigenous

lands to a halt and seems to have generated an anti-indigenous

atmosphere throughout the country, which worsened on-going conflicts

with indigenous communities and encouraged new invasions on their

territories.

In addition, out of all the territories that were contested under

Decree 1775, eight still await the governmental decision between

securing indigenous rights or favoring economic interests. One of the

most controversial is the proposal to cut over 300,000 hectares (1,158

square miles) from the Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous territory in the

state of Roraima, home for 12,000 indigenous peoples.

There are still 254 indigenous territories that await demarcation.

Justice Minister Iris Rezende recently told the newspaper O Estado de

Sao Paulo that the government will demarcate more 20 million hectares

(77,200 square miles) of indigenous lands by April 12. That is indeed

a positive sign.

On the other hand, the government has reduced the 1998 budget for

demarcations by 78%, leaving FUNAI (The National Foundation for the

Indian) only with the funds secured within the Pilot Program to

Conserve the Brazilian Rainforests, which is sponsored by the G-7

industrialized countries.

Hopefully, President Cardoso will close the year with more steps

towards upholding Article 231 of the Brazilian Constitution which

guarantees the rights of indigenous peoples.

As I write these lines, I receive good news from Brazil that a major

operation is in place to expel about 3,000 gold miners from the

Yanomami indigenous territory. I am also informed that Minister

Rezende will be participating in the First Assembly of the Tupinikim

and Guarani in the state of Esp¡rito Santo. These indigenous people

are currently in a conflict with Aracruz Cellulose over their

traditional lands. Hopefully, the Minister will uphold the

Constitution and order the demarcation of their lands.

Hopefully, 1998 will be a better year for the several indigenous

ethnicities who happen to be the traditional inhabitants of a land

that history transformed into Brazil.

{Beto Borges is an ecologist and Brazil Program Director for

Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco, California. Born in Sao

Paulo, Brazil, Borges has a degree in Natural Resource Management from

the University of California at Berkeley. He is the co-chair of the

Brazil Working Group of the Amazon Coalition in Washington DC.}

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