In Brazil, budget and staff cuts during former governments have weakened institutions like the National Indigenous Peoples Foundation (FUNAI) and the Ministry of Environment (MMA). Consequently, policies, laws, and instruments to protect and guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples and territories have been dismantled. Notably, between 2017 and 2022, no indigenous territory received legal recognition nationally.
Nevertheless, in 2023, the government established the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI) and began rebuilding FUNAI step by step. Indigenous female leaders now lead both institutions.
Indigenous peoples often create and implement their own environmental and management plans (PGTAs) for their territories. These plans are essential for Brazil’s indigenous communities to manage, protect, and develop their lands in a long-term and self-determined way. However, there is often a lack of financial resources to implement the planned measures and insufficient human resources to meet the administrative requirements.
Indigenous territories in Brazil are secure, with their territorial integrity and the rights of indigenous peoples protected.
To achieve the project's objective, three main lines of action are planned:
- Organisational development: The project improves the skills of employees of the MPI and FUNAI to effectively protect indigenous rights and territories.
- Improving land regularisation: It optimises processes, information systems and data management for the improved land regularisation of territories to ensure efficient management.
- Policy implementation: The project enacts national indigenous policies, such as the National Policy on environmental and territorial management of indigenous territories. It facilitates direct access for indigenous organisations to resources for implementing their plans and enhances governance and coordination bodies with civil society participation.