Brazil recognizes six Indigenous areas in boost for Amazon

Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has approved the creation of six Indigenous territories, the first such move after a five-year hiatus in Indigenous demarcation

Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Friday granted official recognition of nearly 800 square miles of Indigenous lands, most of it in the Amazon, in a move that seeks to safeguard critical rainforest from the unchecked exploitation that marked his predecessor's administration.

Mr. Lula's action was partial delivery on his promises to the Indigenous supporters and environmentally minded voters who lifted him to a narrow victory last year over far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who had encouraged widespread development of the Amazon - both legal and illegal - and pledged not to grant “one more inch” of land to Indigenous peoples.

The land remains under the federal government’s jurisdiction, but the designation grants Indigenous peoples the right to use it in their traditional manner. Mining activities are prohibited, and commercial farming and logging require specific authorizations. And non-Indigenous people are forbidden from engaging in any economic activity on Indigenous lands.

Kleber Karipuna, executive coordinator at Indigenous people’s organization Apib, called it a welcome shift after four years of threats and invasions targeting Indigenous territories under Bolsonaro.

“For us, it is a very significant process of restarting," he said. “Of course, there are still other lands that can be advanced.”

The Amazon rainforest, covering an area twice the size of India, holds tremendous amounts of carbon and is a crucial buffer against climate change. Studies have shown that Indigenous-controlled forests are the best-preserved in the Brazilian Amazon.

But deforestation surged to a 15-year high during the Bolsonaro years, with destruction largely caused by illegal miners and land-robbers. Destruction in the eastern Amazon has been so extensive that it has become a carbon source, rather than a carbon sink.