As the realities of Brazil’s indigenous peoples (IPs) continue to dramatically change, the UNDP-implemented GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP), Instituto Sociedade, População e Natureza (ISPN), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), ICCA Consortium and Mulheres em Ação no Pantanal (MUPAN) organized a workshop to promote dialogues on the territorios y areas conservados por pueblos indígenas y comunidades locales (TICCA) concept and gather contributions for the study: “A Legal Analysis: TICCAs in Brazil.” Funded by the Global Support Initiative to Indigenous Peoples and Community-Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCA-GSI), the workshop brought 62 multi-level participants together at the Assunção Retreat House, Brasilia - Federal District, Brazil on 30-31 August 2019.
Before 2019, eviction of IPs from their lands was prohibited. Moreover, exploration and extraction of mineral wealth on indigenous lands must be authorized by the National Congress after listening to the communities involved, who must be guaranteed participation in the benefits of the mining activities. Today, newly-developed policies directly threaten the IPs’ constitutional rights and freedoms. The legal processes of demarcation of indigenous lands has been revoked, allowing the state to nullify declaratory ordinances and indigenous land permissions at any time.
In this context, representatives of indigenous communities, civil society organizations and the government joined the organizers in the 2-day workshop. The first day focused on context, conceptual alignment and experience-sharing, covering the following topics: (i) broadening the understanding of the ‘TICCAs concept’ and how it fits into the Brazilian reality and legal framework; (ii) sharing of TICCAs experiences in SGP Brazil, SGP Colombia, and the ICCA Consortium; (iii) objectives and process of the development of the “A Legal Analysis: TICCAs in Brazil”; and (iv) opportunities for applying the TICCAs instrument to institutional and community agendas.
The second day encompassed reflection and collective construction activities. The participants were divided into four working groups, with each group having its own set of guiding questions that focused on improving ICCA recognition and adapted to the Brazilian reality. The dialogues took place in four rounds to enable all stakeholders to participate in each group and stimulate cooperation.
Before closing the workshop, the following ‘next steps’ were agreed upon: (i) continuous reflection on the TICCAs concept among the institutions and communities to reach a decision; (ii) circulate information on the TICCAs concept; (iii) hold a meeting in September 2020 at the Cerrado Peoples Meeting; and (iv) continue the process of preparing the legal study, with participatory engagement from IPs and local communities in the territories.
The workshop report is available in Portuguese, with a truncated version in English.
For additional information the ICCA-GSI in Brazil, please contact Ms. Isabel Figueiredo (National Coordinator, SGP Brazil) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and/or Ms. Livia Moura (Technical Assistant, ISPN) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.