Avoided Deforestation (REDD) and Indigenous ... - Amazon Fund

compatibility for this type of properties will be subject to the jurisdiction’s own indigenous
authorities in each case. 11
About Rights Relating to Forest Resources in Indigenous Lands
The right to use and dispose of existing natural resources in indigenous territories is
a core right for the indigenous people of Bolivia who have been denouncing the existence of
forest concessions to third parties in their territories for more than 20 years; 12 for this reason,
the exclusive ownership of the communities over renewable natural resources is one of the
unquestionable rights in the current constitutional charter.
In this sense, article 388 of the NPCBS expressly indicates that: “Indigenous, original
and agrarian communities situated within forest areas will hold the exclusive right to its use
and management, according to the law.” In addition, the NPCBS declares natural resources as
belonging to and under direct, indivisible and imprescriptible domain of the Bolivian people,
minimizing the obligation of the State to administer them. 13
Specifically relating to forest resources, the political Charter points out that natural forests
and forest soils are strategic in nature for the development of the Bolivian people, although
this does not prevent the State from recognizing forest use rights in favor of communities and
private operators. 14 The same constitutional rule states that “the conversion of land with forest
cover to agricultural or other uses will proceed only in the spaces legally assigned for such,
according to the planning policies and in accordance with the law.” 15 In this sense, subsequent
legislation shall define the limits of forest exploitation and use in a manner which guarantees the
conservation of the soils and bodies of water for the long term with the definition of the areas,
11 Several types of concepts regarding indigenous people have been coined in Bolivia, the principal
conceptualization refers to indigenous peoples themselves and original people, both of which can include
the adjective “peasant”. While normally they refer to indigenous peoples as those who live in the lowlands in
the Amazon region and in the Eastern Chaco region, the original people are identified as those who live in the
highland regions of the Altiplano Region and the valleys of Bolivia. The concept of original people was proposed
to differentiate between the colonial conceptualization of indigenous people that was introduced in Bolivia at the
time of the Spanish invasion..
12 Solely before the ILO, Bolivian indigenous organizations have presented three different claims relating to
logging by third parties in their territories. See complete claims on the official page of the ILO: http://www.ilo.org/
ilolex/spanish/newcountryframeS.htm.
13 NPCBS. Article 349.
14 NPCBS. Article 386.
15 NPCBS. Article 389.
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 29