It is in this territory where challenges presented by competing land use models are apparent—that the role of Indigenous populations has emerged strongly. With the support of several partners from civil society, from governments and from the international community, the State Federation of Indigenous People and Organizations (FEPOIMT) has supported Indigenous peoples with fund raising and emergency actions during the pandemic, has defended their rights in the State Assembly and in the federal Congress, as well as invested in litigation outside Brazil.
Compared to traditional Indigenous organizations, FEPOIMT is quite new. It was founded in 2017 based on a clear vision from Mato Grosso’s Indigenous people: that even if a federation model was very different from traditional Indigenous governance, they needed an institution that could act at the state level to defend their interests. When the Mato Grosso government began to negotiate international support for REDD+—the U.N. acronym for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation—based on the reduction of deforestation in the state between 2004 and 2014, FEPOIMT was able to clearly state the rights of Indigenous people to obtain part of these resources.
To guarantee this right, a 12-month process of consultation was organized by FEPOIMT to define collectively with 42 of the 43 Indigenous groups how to share the benefits of REDD+ through the Early Movers Program established with the support of Germany and the U.K. Today this program is present in almost all the Indigenous territories of Mato Grosso with projects supporting local food production and economical activities, planting and protecting forests, as well as strengthening governance among the different groups.
The threats against forests and against the people that defend them are still there. Other solutions are needed to ensure that the state of law prevails. But who better than empowered Indigenous people to monitor and support the state for the law enforcement that needs to happen?
In a world that is increasingly anxious about climate change—increasingly questioning the effectiveness of solutions—it is necessary to repeat and reaffirm this principle: Powerful solutions already exist and these solutions are not receiving the necessary level of support. We urgently need to have more Indigenous voices at the negotiating table, more resource flowing to strengthen these Indigenous voices, and greater support on the ground to guarantee their well-being.
Crisanto Rudzö Tseremey’wá is president of FEPOIMT, the Mato Grosso Federation of Indigenous people and Indigenous organizations and is also the traditional chief of the Xavante community Tres Maria.
The views expressed in this article are the writers’ own.
