The federal government intends to urgently resume the actions necessary for the implementation of the National Policy for Territorial and Environmental Management of Indigenous Lands (Pngati). According to the Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sônia Guajajara, the Executive Power intends to provide the indigenous population with effective participation in debates on the administration and protection of their lands, as well as on the allocation of natural resources existing in their territories. “We urgently want to resume, still in April, Pngati, which will support and strengthen the production of indigenous peoples”, said the minister when participating today (13) in the 52nd General Assembly of Indigenous Peoples, which is being held in the Raposa Serra Indigenous Land do Sol, in Roraima, and brings together around 2,000 representatives of various ethnic groups. Pngati was established in June 2012, through Decree No. 7747, enacted by then President Dilma Rousseff. With the purpose of “guaranteeing and promoting the protection, recovery, conservation and sustainable use of the natural resources of indigenous lands and territories”, the national policy is structured around seven axes and advocates respect for the socio-cultural autonomy of indigenous peoples. In recent years, indigenous and environmental organizations have repeatedly denounced what they classified as a “dismantling” of Pngati and other indigenous policies. In June 2022, when the policy completed ten years, more than 50 non-governmental entities presented a manifesto in favor of the resumption of Pngati. On the occasion, the Commissions for Human and Minority Rights and for the Environment and Sustainable Development of the Chamber of Deputies held a public hearing to address the matter. During the event, the representative of the Indigenous Council of Roraima, Jéssica Wapichana, stated that the management committee of Pngati had practically been extinguished, while the member of the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon, Francisco Apuriña said that more than 150 management projects had been paralyzed. Council This morning, in addition to revealing the federal government’s intention to resume Pngati, Minister Sônia Guajajara said that the Executive Branch is also studying the reactivation of the National Council for Indigenous Policy (CNPI). Created in December 2015, during the government of Dilma Rousseff, the council is a collegiate, advisory body, responsible for presenting proposals and monitoring the implementation of public policies aimed at indigenous peoples. It is composed of an equal number of representatives of the government and of indigenous peoples, organizations and entities. “We are also discussing the resumption of the National Council for Indigenous Policy, a space for equal participation of representatives of indigenous peoples and the federal government, in order to have truly adequate policies that meet the different realities of the country”, added the minister, who traveled to Roraima to participate in the 52nd General Assembly of Indigenous Peoples along with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and a delegation of federal authorities, including the president of the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples, Joênia Wapichana. Highlighting the food fair held at the same time as the meeting, Joênia recalled that, since the first day of the new federal administration, Funai and the government have assumed that tackling the humanitarian crisis that affects the communities of the Yanomami Indigenous Land is a priority, but stressed that other actions are being implemented in parallel. “Funai is resuming the demarcation processes [de terras indígenas] paralysed. It may take a little while, but we need to update all the paralyzed processes”, said Joênia, asking for support from indigenous peoples and other sectors of the government. “Funai has returned to stand by the indigenous peoples. To participate in indigenous assemblies; do partnership projects with indigenous organizations and listen to indigenous peoples We are trying to start over, rebuild, but I want to share this challenge because Funai alone will not be able to handle everything. We have to rely on support, including financial support, from other bodies. We are going to have to work a lot and this work is also a shared responsibility with the indigenous peoples.” No to Mining Present at the event, Yanomami leader Davi Kopenawa once again called for the removal of miners from the Yanomami Indigenous Land – an extensive area of around 9.6 million hectares that covers part of the states of Roraima and Amazonas. Each hectare corresponds, approximately, to the measurements of an official soccer field. “They [garimpeiros] are hidden, and I wanted to ask the president [Lula] to ask the staff [servidores públicos] to get everyone out of there […] I ask the president to increase the number of people who are there, protecting indigenous communities […]. And after removing the prospectors, we have to take more medicines, technicians, nurses, dentists and other health professionals. We are going to build a hospital close to the communities”, emphasized Kopenawa before criticizing mining in indigenous lands. “We need to unite against invaders and against mining. I don’t want mining either in the Yanomami Indigenous Land or here in Raposa Serra do Sol. There is no need to bring heavy mining into our forest. Because, by killing rivers, mining kills the soul of the forest. It kills the indigenous people, but also the people of the cities”, stated Davi Kopenawa. The representative of the indigenous women of Roraima, Maria Betânia Mota de Jesus, from the Macuxi people, endorsed the criticism of the mining and asked Funai for more resources. “For our peoples, mining is not development, but the destruction of our mother earth. We call for territorial protection and the withdrawal of invaders [das terras indígenas]. [Por esta razão] the increase in Funai’s budget is important, because we need all of our lands to be demarcated in fact and that those already demarcated into islands be expanded.”
Agência Brasil
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