The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, signed this Friday (04.28.2023) decrees that demarcate six new territories for indigenous peoples, the first since 2018, during a meeting with representatives of indigenous peoples in Brasilia.
These new reserves, which guarantee indigenous people the exclusive use of natural resources while preserving their traditional way of life, are considered by scientists as one of the main barriers against deforestation in the Amazon, whose control is one of the priority objectives of the government.
zero deforestation
“It is a process that takes time, but we are going to work so that the largest possible number of indigenous reserves are demarcated. If we want to achieve zero deforestation by 2030, we need the maximum number of demarcated lands,” President Lula said.
The leftist president made the announcement on the occasion of the closing of the 19th edition of the “Terra Livre” (free land) camp, an annual meeting that this week brought together thousands of indigenous people from all over the country in an open-air area in the capital of Brazil.
Bolsonaro: “Do not give an inch” to indigenous people
No new indigenous reservation was created under the mandate of Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), Lula’s predecessor, who had promised before coming to power “not to give an inch” to the native peoples.
Two of the six new approved demarcations are located in the Amazon, including the largest, called Unieuxi, assigned to 249 indigenous peoples of the Maku and Tukano peoples, in more than 550,000 hectares in the state of Amazonas (north).
Two others are located in the northeast of the country, a fifth in the south and the last one in the central region. According to the latest census, dating from 2010, some 800,000 indigenous people live in the largest South American country, the majority on reservations that occupy 13.75 percent of the territory.
VT (afp, ap)
2023-04-28 15:42:05
#Lula #demarcates #indigenous #lands #Brazil #04.28.2023
