Demarcation News
2 October 2001
Amazon Indians reject government order to stop cutting border around their
lands to keep out illegal loggers
 |
Manaus, Amazon, Brazil - In the face of Brazilian government
attempts to shut them down, the Deni Indian chiefs pledged
that they would continue to physically cut a border around
their lands to keep out illegal loggers. Three Brazilian non-governmental
organisations, including Greenpeace, who have been supplying
logistical support, such as cooking, transport and communications,
to the Deni, have declared their continued support. |
Last Friday, 17 days after the Deni started the demarcation of
their lands in the Amazon rainforest 1000 kilometers southwest
of Manaus, Greenpeace received a letter from FUNAI, the Federal
Government Indian Agency, ordering the immediate suspension of
the demarcation of the Deni Indian land until the Minister of
Justice formally acknowledges Deni ownership.
"We have being waiting for the Government to demarcate
our lands since they said they would in 1985. They haven't
kept their promises so we had to do it. Why are they trying
to stop us now?" said Chief Biruvi Deni by satellite
phone from the Deni Lands to the Greenpeace ship the Arctic
Sunrise in Manaus. The Arctic Sunrise is in the region to
highlight the impact of illegal and destructive logging on
the future of the Amazon rainforest. |
 |
Greenpeace Amazon Project Coordinator Paul Adario said: "the
Brazilian Government must be very embarrassed as the Deni have
shown that they can do the physical and technical demarcation
process themselves. Now all they ask is for the government to
sign the decree which makes legal the work the Deni have already
done, to formally protect the land from illegal loggers waiting
to step in and tear down the forest."
Located on the Cuniua and Xerua river valleys (tributaries
of the Purus and Jurua rivers, in Amazonas State), the Deni
land is under threat from the Malaysian logging company WTK
that purchased over 313,000 hectares of rainforest. More than
50 percent of this area overlaps with the Deni land. It is
illegal in Brazil to log on Indian land. |
 |
The Deni were first informed in May 1999 that a part of their
lands had been purchased by WTK, when a Greenpeace expedition
went to the area to investigate illegal logging activities in
the region. The Deni people were unaware of this sale and the
plans to log their land. At this point the Deni asked Greenpeace
to help them with their demarcation process. Greenpeace is working
closely with CIMI and OPAN, organisations experienced in Amazon
Indian issues, to assist the Deni in the process. In further discussions
with Greenpeace, WTK subsequently stated that they will not challenge
the demarcation.
A team of Brazilian experts and an international team of 12 Greenpeace
volunteers are providing logistical support to the Deni people
during the demarcation process. Volunteers from Brazil, Chile,
the UK, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, Greece, Germany, Austria,
the US and China have been filing daily reports to Greenpeace's
website, and doing interviews from the jungle, to make it known
that the Brazilian government must support this process for the
Deni lands to be protected. Once demarcation is recognized by
the government, permits for logging and other destructive industrial
activities cannot be issued for these lands.
 |
According to CIMI, it is the Minister of Justice, not the
Deni, who is wrong. "By law, the Minister was obliged
to either sign the decree, reject the application, or request
additional information from FUNAI before the 21st of August.
Nothing was done. The government also failed to respect the
constitutional mandate for demarcation of all Indian lands
by 1985," said Chico Loebenz, from CIMI. According to
Loebenz, it would be a moral disaster for the Deni if the
government stops them from protecting their own land. "The
government should go there and help them, instead of destroying
the Deni's dreams by weakening their borders," he said. |
This project is part of Greenpeace's campaign to protect the
world's remaining ancient forests. Some 80 percent of the world's
ancient forests have already been degraded or destroyed. Time
is running out for the remaining 20 percent unless governments
around the world take swift action to ensure their future.
Read the letters from the Deni to
the government.
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