United Indigenous Territory of the Isana and Surubí Rivers.
Photo: GAIA Amazonas – Felipe Rodríguez
Since before the elections were voted on 2022 presidential electionindigenous councils of the departments of Amazonas, Vaupés and Guainía They met to make a call to the next government: to formalize the territorial entities of more than 30 indigenous peoples, as ordered by the 1991 Constitution and Decree 632 of 2018. They asked the candidates to include their request in he National Development Plan (PND).
Those who prepared the PND listened to their requests. The document established that by the end of 2024 at least seven indigenous territorial entities (ETI) of the 15 that had started this process years ago and whose indigenous councils are already registered with the Ministry of Interior.
However, the communities today view this promise with concern, since only four councils have advanced further in the second phase (of three) of the process, out of the 12 that are in this one. “So far it has not been possible, and it is the debt that this country owes to those territories and to our Constitution,” says Doris Ochoa, executive director of the NGO Gaia Amazonas.
In simple terms, these are zones that have been defined as non-municipalized areas. There, the formation of territorial entities would allow indigenous governments more powers than they already have.
For Antonio Matapí, indigenous authority of Mirití Paraná Territory (Amazon)the figure of territorial entities “is a tool to position our thinking before the National Government and the way to make use of our autonomy.”
They are not going to be municipalities or departments, “but they are similar in that they are authorities and public entities. Where the greatest virtue of the process lies is that they will be able to exercise government in their territories in coordination with other public authorities,” explains Ochoa. “The territorial entities would not only allow the indigenous authorities to exercise as government, but would also contribute to the survival of their cultures and greater guarantees for the conservation of their territories”.
For Ochoa, it is key to differentiate these processes from the municipalities, which, according to the researcher, has been one of the threats to the formation of the entities. “Due to other interests outside the indigenous world, and the indigenous authorities, they want to promote the formation of municipalities in the Amazon. One of the calls that these indigenous territories have made, and the agreements that they have established with the National Government, is to refrain from creating municipalities until territorial planning is required from the formalization of the entities.”
A process that has not yet seen the light
Following the issuance of Decree-Law 632 of 2018, which establishes the mechanisms and procedures to formalize the indigenous territorial entities of these three departments, the communities completed the first part of the process, which was the registration of 15 indigenous councils with the Ministry of the Interior, an achievement that was obtained after filing 10 writs of protection.
The second part consists of the registered indigenous councils talking with different entities of the National Government about the territory and the population that the entity would include, as well as its administrative plan, based on their knowledge systems. Among the entities that are part of this phase are the National Land Agency, the Directorate of Indigenous Affairs, the Agustín Codazzi Geographic Institute and DANE.
Finally, the remaining phase is the formation of territorial entities, from the Ministry of the Interior, with the decentralization of public income and expenses.
“For millennia we have been managing the territory and maintaining its integrity in accordance with our original law. We speak of a biocultural policy, in which everything that exists in the territory has life for us, so we think of it as a system,” adds Antonio Matapí.
The indigenous authorities that are most advanced in the second phase are the councils of the Mirití-Paraná Territory, Bajo Río Caquetá, Yaigojé-Apaporis and Pani. According to the Ministry of the Interior, these four councils are currently in visits with the National Land Agency (ANT) for territorial delimitation.
For Juan Carlos Preciado, an advisor to Gaia Amazonas who has accompanied the communities in the process, the fact that only four councils are in this dialogue of the second phase is due to the fact that “the State and the way the Colombian government has responded has not been adequate. There is a lack of coordination between the entities.” He also claims that in the phase of registering the indigenous councils there were unjustified delays in the procedures.
When transferring the communities’ concerns to the Ministry of the Interior, this portfolio points out that it is a procedure that takes time, since it is not the only entity that “must provide due diligence in compliance with Decree 632, but it is also an inter-institutional effort, in which we are currently working to resolve it in the most diligent and agile way possible.” It also mentions that an interdisciplinary team was set up, “who have provided permanent and coordinated assistance in addressing all the emerging needs that arise along the way of implementation.”
Another barrier, according to Preciado, is the budget that has been allocated to the process, especially for the meetings required for the second phase. According to the Ministry of the Interior, for 2023 it was agreed with the communities that more than $300 million would be allocated, the main investment being the strengthening of indigenous governments. For 2024, the ministry indicates, $500 million were allocated for the same purpose.
Indigenous people, keys to biodiversity
The 2022 Biodiversity Summit in Canada (COP15) concluded with a Global Framework that was key for a large part of the scientific community. It included measures to stop and reverse the loss of nature with 23 goals to be met by 2030, including the protection of 30% of the planet and 30% of degraded ecosystems, and it created a Global Fund to comply with that Framework.
The document recognises the role of indigenous peoples in protecting biodiversity. Various organisations, such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature, have established that more than 80% of the surface of indigenous territories is covered by forests, of which 45% are intact forests.
In Colombia, data from Ideam shows that indigenous territories in the process of becoming formal territorial entities account for 24% of the Colombian Amazon and maintain 95.2% of its forests standing.
“It is a fact that these territories are the best preserved in the Amazon because the indigenous people are exercising their rights there based on their knowledge systems and are acting, as the Constitution says, on behalf of the State. But since this has not been formalized, it implies a number of restrictions for them,” says Preciado.
Ochoa insists, for his part, that with the formation of territorial entities Colombia would be guaranteeing the survival of biological and cultural diversity. “Through their knowledge and government systems, which for millennia have proven to be the key to success, indigenous peoples are offering the world a possibility of guaranteeing the sustainability of life and not just theirs.”
On the other hand, a study The World Resources Institute says that formal recognition of indigenous territories is a high-benefit, low-cost investment: recognizing these territories can cost between 5 and 40 times less than the CO2 emissions avoided through carbon capture in the Amazon.
For the researcher, another reason why it would be key to formalize these entities, in addition to Colombia’s commitment to the Montreal Global Framework, is that the country is hosting the next biodiversity summit, which will be held in Cali.
*This article is published thanks to a partnership between El Espectador and InfoAmazonia, with the support of the Amazon Conservation Team.
