July 13, 2022

18:07

Marcela Leiros – from Amazon Agency

BRASILIA – The Bill of Law (PL) No. 9.605, authored by the only indigenous federal lawmaker in the country, Joenia Wapichana (Rede-RR), proposes to revert, for the benefit of indigenous peoples, the amounts collected from the payment of fines for environmental violations committed on indigenous lands. The bill is under consideration by the House of Representatives, but has been awaiting a vote since last year.

The bill amends Law nº 9.605, of 12 February 1998, and Law nº 6.001, of 19 December 1973. Currently, the former determines that “the amounts collected from the payment of fines for environmental violations should be reverted to the National Environmental Fund, the Naval Fund, state or municipal environmental funds, or related ones, as disposed by the collecting agency”, and the latter states that “the indigenous income is the result of the application of goods and utilities that are part of the Indigenous Patrimony, under the responsibility of the Indian assistance agency”.

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The aim of the author of the project is to constitute a fair reparation for the damages suffered by these communities. Wapichana recalled the national and international repercussion of the burnings in the Amazon region and the connection of the actions of farmers responsible for environmental crimes such as illegal logging, mining, hunting and fishing, among others.

“In view of these situations, which have caused so much damage to indigenous lands, consequently affecting the communities that inhabit them, nothing could be fairer than to revert to the benefit of indigenous peoples the amounts collected from the payment of fines for environmental violations committed on their lands. These amounts will be part of the indigenous income and can be reapplied in environmental preservation and in favor of the affected indigenous communities themselves”, justified the congresswoman.

Favorable to the project

The rapporteur of the bill is Lawmaker Nilto Tatto (PT-SP), who distributed the matter to the Committees on Environment and Sustainable Development; Human Rights and Minorities; Finance and Taxation; and Constitution and Justice and Citizenship, where it is expected to be voted on.

In voting in favor of the project, the deputy recalled that indigenous lands have been the object of criminal incursions by deforesters, hunters, and miners, as in the case of the Yanomami Indigenous Land (TI), in Roraima, where it is estimated that there are 20 thousand miners operating illegally, and the Munduruku TI, in the southwest region of the state of Pará.

“The list of aggressions against indigenous people is long. According to the Indigenous Missionary Council, the cases of IT invasions rose from 109 in 2018 to 256 cases in 2019, an increase of 135%. Invasions were recorded in 151 Indigenous Lands, inhabited by 143 distinct peoples, in 23 states, that is, in almost the entire country. The destruction and contamination of the natural resources of Indigenous Lands by illegal activities destroy the indigenous peoples’ livelihoods,” he pointed out.

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Check out the Bill in full: