Project overview
In Roraima, Brazil, the state with the largest Indigenous population, Indigenous Peoples have long defended their territories as spaces of life, culture, autonomy and environmental richness. Yet many of these territories have insecure tenure. In some small areas were demarcated during Brazil’s military dictatorship, yet the demarcations left out large areas traditionally used by the indigenous communities; others are still awaiting demarcation, redefinition of boundaries, or the removal of non-Indigenous occupants. This unfinished recognition has left Indigenous communities vulnerable to land pressures and environmental threats.
This project will support the advancement of demarcation and land tenure regularisation processes for Indigenous Lands in Roraima, with the aim of guaranteeing the full exercise of territorial rights and strengthening Indigenous autonomy and territorial governance.
The project’s activities are to be set in nine Indigenous territories which require re-study of boundaries, new demarcation processes and territorial recovery. These actions aim to advance the recognition of approximately 450,000 hectares of forested areas.
To move these processes forward, the project will combine technical, legal and community-led action. It will support the production of studies and georeferenced information to contribute to demarcation procedures with FUNAI. It will also support legal and institutional cooperation to help transform constitutional rights and court decisions into concrete territorial protection.
Furthermore, the project will strengthen Indigenous territorial governance systems and land monitoring efforts. This includes the elaboration and implementation of territorial and environmental management plans and training Indigenous monitoring agents. In addition, the project will foster collaboration with Indigenous communities from Guyana.
Finally, the project activities have an important gender focus. Through training, exchanges, support for community-based economic initiatives and spaces for political articulation, the project will strengthen the role of Indigenous women in territorial defence, governance, food security, cultural continuity and economic autonomy.
