Lula wants to hand over new areas to indigenous people “as soon as possible” 22 Ukrainian works of art seized on the Great St. Bernard

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wants to designate new indigenous areas in his country “as soon as possible”. Lula said Monday at a meeting of indigenous leaders in the northern state of Roraima that he had asked the responsible ministry to give him the names of all areas that could be designated as indigenous reserves.

The areas should be demarcated as soon as possible, Lula said. This must be done “before others appropriate it (…) by falsifying documents.” The president pointed out the important role of indigenous peoples in protecting the environment. Allowing new tribal lands will help fight climate change and deforestation, Lula stressed.

According to the latest 2010 census, there are about 800,000 indigenous people in Brazil, most of them in reservations that make up 13.75 percent of the country’s area.

Under the government of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, land allocation to indigenous peoples had come to a standstill. Shortly before the start of his term (2019-2022), Bolsonaro had announced that he would not give “another centimeter” to indigenous peoples. Deforestation also increased sharply under his presidency.

When he took office in December, Lula pledged to turn away from Bolsonaro’s policies and stated that he would work energetically to protect indigenous people and the Amazon rainforest. (sda/afp)