One of the final stages in demarcating the Amazonian territory of the isolated Kawahiva tribe is set to take place this year, Brazil’s Ministry of Indigenous Peoples has announced. It’s taken nearly 23 years of work by Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency, Funai, to mark off land for the Kawahiva do Rio Pardo territory in Mato Grosso state. But some Indigenous experts remain skeptical the territory will ever be demarcated in the face of constant delays and structural problems within Funai. “It doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen,” Jair Candor, coordinator of the Funai unit that safeguards the Kawahiva, told Mongabay. “I don’t see any actions in favor of demarcation.” Demarcation would grant the Indigenous territory formal recognition by the Brazilian government, and make it off-limits to loggers, miners, ranchers and development projects that could degrade the area’s resources. Indigenous rights advocates see the demarcation process as “essential” for the Kawahiva, a group of about 45-50 individuals who live in voluntary isolation from the rest of the world after reportedly facing a series of massacres by invaders over recent decades. They are the last survivors of the Kawahiva peoples, one of numerous groups who once occupied vast tracts of the Amazon Rainforest. An abandoned Kawahiva camp. Image by Funai. On Aug. 8, 2023, the Supreme Federal Court ordered the government to “adopt all necessary measures” to fully protect territories that are home to isolated Indigenous peoples. The ruling gave officials 60 days to present an action plan for demarcation of…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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