Avoided Deforestation (REDD) and Indigenous ... - Amazon Fund
Avoided Deforestation (REDD) and Indigenous ... - Amazon Fund
Avoided Deforestation (REDD) and Indigenous ... - Amazon Fund
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of representing their respective communities <strong>and</strong> as a preferred vehicle to exercise their legal<br />
rights as described by the 1988 Constitution. 16<br />
With regard to Brazilian Indians’ l<strong>and</strong>, Article 20, XI of the Brazilian Federal Constitution<br />
establishes that the l<strong>and</strong> traditionally occupied by the Brazilian Indians17 is the Federal Union’s<br />
property.<br />
This proprietary regime over Brazilian Indians’ l<strong>and</strong> is further regulated by Art. 231 of the<br />
Constitution, which also establishes fundamental rights on behalf of the Brazilian Indians:<br />
Article 231 - The social organization, custom, language, belief <strong>and</strong> traditions of the<br />
Brazilian Indians18 are recognized, <strong>and</strong> the original rights under the l<strong>and</strong> which they<br />
traditionally occupy, having the Federal Union the competence of delineation, protection<br />
<strong>and</strong> respect to all its goods.<br />
First Paragraph: L<strong>and</strong>s traditionally occupied by the Brazilian Indians are those that<br />
they have inhabited permanently, used for their productive activity <strong>and</strong> their welfare <strong>and</strong><br />
are necessary for their cultural <strong>and</strong> physical reproduction, according to their uses, customs<br />
<strong>and</strong> traditions.<br />
Second Paragraph: The l<strong>and</strong>s traditionally occupied by the Brazilian Indians are<br />
destined to their permanent possession, having the exclusive usufruct regarding the<br />
richness related to soil, rivers <strong>and</strong> lakes which exist inside them (emphasis by author).<br />
Third Paragraph: The utilization of water resources, including energy potential, the<br />
research <strong>and</strong> use of mineral resources in the Brazilian Indians’ l<strong>and</strong>s can only be executed<br />
under National Congress approval, having heard the affected communities, granted to<br />
them the participation in the use, under the law dispositions (emphasis by author).<br />
Fourth Paragraph: The l<strong>and</strong>s mentioned in this article are inalienable, are not<br />
disposable <strong>and</strong> the rights under them are not prescriptive (emphasis by author).<br />
Fifth Paragraph: It is forbidden to remove Indian groups from their l<strong>and</strong>s except, “ad<br />
referendum” of Congress, in the event of an epidemic which represents a risk for their<br />
population, or in the interest of Brazilian sovereignty, after resolution by Congress,<br />
16 This phenomena is very well described by the anthropologist Bruce Albert who identified in early 2000 more<br />
than 180 associations in the six States of the Northern Region of Brazil (<strong>Amazon</strong>as, Roraima, Rondônia, Acre, Pará<br />
<strong>and</strong> Amapá) <strong>and</strong> more than 250 in the so-called Legal <strong>Amazon</strong>ia (which includes parts of the States of Mato<br />
Grosso, Tocantins <strong>and</strong> Maranhão), available at http://www.socioambiental.org/pib/english/orgsi/amazo.shtm.<br />
17 Referred to herein as “Indians l<strong>and</strong>s”.<br />
18 Please note that the original Constitution text uses the Portuguese term “indios” to refer to Brazilian Indians.<br />
Av o i d e d d e f o re s t A t i o n (redd) A n d i n d i g e n o u s p e o p l e s: experiences, chAllenges A n d o p p o r t u n i t i e s in t h e A m A zo n c o n t e x t 129