Avoided Deforestation (REDD) and Indigenous ... - Amazon Fund

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the use, enjoyment, control, administration and regulation over the forest resources which exist in their territories; this allows them to implement activities relating to REDD projects that are oriented toward avoiding deforestation and the conservation of the native forests in their territories. At the same time, Colombian legislation recognizes indigenous authorities’ full legal competency to represent their people and communities, without any administrative or patrimonial restriction, which allows them to directly implement valid legal deals. REDD project activities, such as forestation, reforestation, conservation and maintenance of forested areas, avoiding deforestation and land-use change for agricultural activities or other activities different from forest uses are not against the current legislation and to the extent that they are voluntary and initiated by the indigenous people, they constitute an option for free and conscious development and are perfectly legitimate according to the law. 80 Ecuador Ecuador is one of the countries in the Amazon basin with the largest difficulties in establishing politics and judicial institutions, which makes a reliable long-term legal analysis difficult. The current Constitution was issued in 2008 and its implementation is still in progress. Because of this, the Ecuadorian legal framework is contradictory and ambiguous with regards to environmental, as well as forestry and indigenous, matters. It is necessary, however, to recognize that the current Ecuadorian government is especially enthusiastic about the possibilities of international cooperation to promote the conservation of areas with high biodiversity in the country such as the Amazon. In fact, Ecuador is a proponent of projects related to international compensation for not exploiting petroleum reserves in the Amazon; the government views this as an alternative to decreasing GHG emissions from burning fossil fuels. This is an especially important initiative for countries such as Ecuador, for which petroleum exploitation is a significant source of public revenue .81 However, indigenous people directly affected by these proposals have participated neither in their elaboration nor in any public debate and therefore strongly question these plans. In Ecuador, as in the other countries 80 Colombia ratified all of the international instruments regarding climate change and the Kyoto Protocol which took effect 2005. The Colombian legislation does not prevent indigenous people from being the owners and direct beneficiaries of carbon credits derived from the reduction of GHG emissions from REDD projects. 81 See complete information about the Yasuni project on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Ecuador: http://www.yasuni-itt.gov.ec. 50 Av o i d e d d e f o re s t A t i o n (redd) A n d i n d i g e n o u s p e o p l e s: experiences, chAllenges A n d o p p o r t u n i t i e s in t h e A m A zo n c o n t e x t
in the region, national legislation which will govern REDD projects and its compatibility with indigenous legislation is yet to be defined. The State Political Constitution (hereafter SPC) guarantees the right of the people, communities, and indigenous nationalities to “conserve the imprescriptible property of their community lands, which will be inalienable, unseizable, and indivisible” (art. 57.4) and to “maintain the possession of their lands and ancestral territories” (art. 57.3). This means that in Ecuador the right of indigenous people to the collective ownership of their territory is fully recognized. 82 In the current Constitution, four different collective subjects are identified as holders of indigenous collective rights: 1) communes, 2) communities, 3) villages and 4) indigenous nations. All forms of political and social organization recognized and promoted by the state have full autonomy to define their representative structures. 83 The actual political Charter is more ambiguous with regards to the right of usufruct and control of natural resources in indigenous lands, than with regards to property rights. Thus, the SPC guarantees in numeral 6 of article 57 that indigenous people have the right to “participate in the use, usufruct, administration and conservation of renewable natural resources on their lands.” In principle, this constitutional regulation, together with international instruments, 84 should be sufficient to confirm that indigenous people have the right to control and administer the natural resources which exist in their territories. However, the fact that the cited numeral 6 refers to a right of “participation” in the use, administration and conservation of the natural resources, leaves open the possibility that indigenous people are not the only legitimate owners of the regulation rights these resources, this will be further defined by legislation posterior to the Constitutional Charter which is being prepared in the Ecuadorian Congress. 82 Even though article 57 does not explicitly define “community lands” or “ancestral territories,” it is possible to interpret that it refers to the concept of indigenous territory as defined in Articles 13, 14 and 15 of ILO Convention 169 and Articles 26 and following of UNDRIP, since the title of the cited article makes reference to the respective international norms. 83 § 9, 10 and 15 of Article 57 of the SPC states that indigenous people have the right to: “9. Conserve and develop their own forms of coexistence and social organization and of generation and exercise of authority in their legally recognized territories and community lands of ancestral possession. (…) 15. Construct and maintain organizations that represent them, and that pluralism and cultural, political and organizational diversity. The State will recognize and promote all forms of expression and organization. (Emphasis by author.) 84 The title of cited article 57 indicates that the collective rights of indigenous people, according to the constitution, should be interpreted “in conformity with the pacts, agreements, declarations and other international human rights instruments.” Av o i d e d d e f o re s t A t i o n (redd) A n d i n d i g e n o u s p e o p l e s: experiences, chAllenges A n d o p p o r t u n i t i e s in t h e A m A zo n c o n t e x t 51
Page 1 and 2: Avoided Deforestation (REDD) and In
Page 3 and 4: Avoided Deforestation (REDD) and In
Page 5: Summary Introduction Raul Silva Tel
Page 8 and 9: Amazon region is currently the pref
Page 11 and 12: Indigenous Lands and the Climate Cr
Page 13 and 14: “Amazon biome,” which does not
Page 15 and 16: approximately 13 million hectares,
Page 17 and 18: The tables below display data regar
Page 19 and 20: In practice, the main decisions reg
Page 21: Nogueira, EM., Fearnside, PM., Nels
Page 24 and 25: 22 Av o i d e d d e f o re s t A t
Page 26 and 27: Given the absence of legal definiti
Page 28 and 29: internal debates on this issue, pre
Page 30 and 31: which they have traditionally owned
Page 32 and 33: which Bolivian legislation calls
Page 34 and 35: consultation” in its articles 30.
Page 36 and 37: are also facilitated by the strong
Page 38 and 39: legal risk that these lands can be
Page 40 and 41: has the duty (and exclusive compete
Page 42 and 43: derived from them, such as from the
Page 44 and 45: On the other hand, the Colombian le
Page 46 and 47: “the special norms which regulate
Page 48 and 49: framework of ecological function an
Page 50 and 51: The law permits and stimulates refo
Page 54 and 55: One of these bills relates to the e
Page 56 and 57: the constitution which still has no
Page 58 and 59: Since there is not a specific law r
Page 60 and 61: communities of the sierra and jungl
Page 62 and 63: the lands that they possess and tha
Page 64 and 65: and legal instruments to guarantee
Page 66 and 67: those recognized “in internationa
Page 68 and 69: limitation for implementing eventua
Page 70 and 71: REDD in Venezuela Since REDD mechan
Page 72 and 73: to implement REDD projects with bec
Page 74 and 75: Can IPs dispose of the forestry res
Page 76 and 77: Ecuador Yes. However, it will be ne
Page 78 and 79: to reductions in GHG emissions and
Page 80 and 81: did not establish any mechanism to
Page 82 and 83: On the other hand, there is a growi
Page 84 and 85: the co-existence of diverse culture
Page 86 and 87: In accordance with this internation
Page 88 and 89: Indigenous Peoples as Protagonists
Page 90 and 91: e considered a security under Brazi
Page 92 and 93: cannot dispose of the lands they tr
Page 94 and 95: Article 34 of the Indian Statute (F
Page 96 and 97: is a legal obligation and there is
Page 98 and 99: State or to third parties. Since ca
Page 100 and 101: equired for the acts of civil life,
Page 102 and 103:
indigenous peoples could only have
Page 104 and 105:
Indigenous Collective Ownership Fin
Page 106 and 107:
of their interest is indivisible (L
Page 108 and 109:
equired before the benefits may be
Page 111 and 112:
The Surui Project: Building Indigen
Page 113 and 114:
has decimated much of their forest.
Page 115 and 116:
Reducing Risks: Framework for Proje
Page 117 and 118:
Michel Pellanders/Hollandse Hoogte,
Page 119 and 120:
evitalization. Therefore, the REDD
Page 121 and 122:
Volume: To assess the volume of the
Page 123 and 124:
2009). The Surui are also engaging
Page 125 and 126:
will be critical, given that eventu
Page 127 and 128:
Legal Aspects of the Surui Carbon P
Page 129 and 130:
from afforestation, reforestation,
Page 131 and 132:
of representing their respective co
Page 133 and 134:
they are entitled to participate in
Page 135 and 136:
In the case of Brazil, the prolifer
Page 137 and 138:
• Article 11, IV of the referred-
Page 139 and 140:
Sole paragraph. The rule of this Ar
Page 141 and 142:
constitutional rights of Brazilian
Page 143 and 144:
of exploitation or use, and belong
Page 145:
alignment with the Brazilian consti
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Avoided Deforestation (REDD) and Indigenous ... - Amazon Fund

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