Indigenous Peoples: Repealed rule that mitigated environmental license – 04/20/2023 – Environment

Funai (National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples) and Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) revoked this Wednesday (19) a normative instruction edited in 2021 by the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) that weakened environmental licensing in indigenous lands.

According to Funai, the measure instituted by the previous government “weakened environmental licensing in Brazil, threatening the constitutional guarantees of Indigenous Peoples, such as the exclusive use of territories by their peoples and, consequently, their self-determination and autonomy”.

The institution also criticized the possibility brought by the previous norm that mixed organizations of indigenous and non-indigenous people could economically exploit indigenous lands.

“The participation of indigenous people in these organizations, which are not necessarily representative of the people or community that live in that territory, was used by the previous government to justify the measure”, pointed out the institution.

For the president of Funai, Joenia Wapichana, “the revocation, which affronted the constitutional rights of Indigenous Peoples, will reduce conflicts, as it will no longer provide legal protection for the invasion of indigenous territories”.

The normative instruction revoked this week by the two bodies established specific norms for the development of sustainable projects by indigenous people in the villages.

The justification at the time is that the rule made the issuance of licenses more flexible. She was criticized as soon as she left for allowing mixed organizations, which would weaken indigenous management and environmental conservation in the demarcated territories.