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

Amazon region is currently the preferred location for agricultural, mineral and energy expansion
in South America. It is highly likely that many REDD projects connected to a global agreement
will be developed in the Amazon, as can already be seen with pilot initiatives related to the socalled
voluntary market.
Avoided Deforestation and Indigenous Lands
Any analysis of avoided deforestation or maintenance of forest stocks in the Amazon
must take into consideration indigenous lands, where a significant part of remaining forests is
located. The fact that they occupy approximately 25% of the Amazon has attracted the attention
of indigenous peoples who have rights over these lands, as well as government agencies, nongovernmental
organizations, and companies interested in carrying out REDD projects. On the
one hand, these projects can reduce global emissions and make it possible for companies and
countries to achieve their goals. On the other hand, they can also create financial and institutional
conditions for indigenous people to manage their territories in environmentally and socially
sustainable ways.
So far, there are few REDD experiences in indigenous lands, in Brazil or other countries,
and various fundamental questions have not yet been properly analyzed or answered. Among
them is the question of ownership of credits generated from forest maintenance or recovery
activities, since in each country the legal framework for these lands is different. This book presents
important legal assessments by Biviany Rojas Garzón, Erika Yamada and Viviane Otsubo on this
topic, both for the Brazilian context and other countries.
But indigenous lands cannot – and should not – be regarded as mere carbon reservoirs,
since they are much more than that. They are cultural spaces which sustain livelihoods that are
adapted to the inherent diversity of tropical forests and that are therefore compatible with and
beneficial to the maintenance of forests and the equilibrium of ecosystems which provide essential
environmental services. Therefore, as Márcio Santilli explains, rather than installing monitoring
stations, it is more important to create conditions for indigenous people to implement their own
territorial management projects consistent with their peculiar forms of seeing and understanding
the world. No deforestation can be avoided in uninhabited lands.
Another relevant topic concerning REDD in indigenous territories is in regards to the
social agreements which are required for projects to promote monitoring and sustainable use
of the territory. Since most lands are multicultural, being home to peoples, clans, and families
with various degrees of autonomy, in spite of a shared territory, any project involving the entire
6 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