Indigenous Justice
Indigenous rights key to protecting Brazil’s Atlantic Forest
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Uruba Pataxó, Indigenous leader of the Aldeia Mãe Barra Velha, visited the Stockholm Resilience Centre. Photo by Amanda Jiménez Aceituno.
Brazil’s Atlantic Forest cannot be safeguarded without also protecting Indigenous rights. This was the message from Indigenous leader Uruba Pataxó, visiting the Centre as a part of the “Powering Change with Justice” project.
The Pataxó people were among the first to encounter colonisers in Brazil. Centuries later, they continue to face violent struggles to defend their territory, culture, and ways of life. Today, their communities in the Atlantic Forest region are under pressure from expanding tourism, eucalyptus plantations, deforestation, and climate change. These threats accelerate biodiversity loss and water scarcity while undermining Indigenous food systems and livelihoods.
Through the Powering Change with Justice project, the Centre and its partners are exploring how just transformations can be advanced by weaving together Indigenous knowledge, scientific research, and international advocacy.
On 20 August, the Centre hosted a seminar on Indigenous Wisdom and Resilience in the Face of Territorial Threats together with the Transformative Futures theme.
It brought together Indigenous leaders, researchers, and advocates, including Uruba Pataxó, Dr. Marcia F. de Camargo from the Indigenous Pataxó School of Barra Velha and Uppsala University, and Dr. Paulo Lugon, international advisor at Conselho Indigenista Missionário (CIMI).
Struggles for land and life
Despite constitutional guarantees, legal and political barriers still block the demarcation of Indigenous territories. The Lei do Marco Temporal, which restricts Indigenous land rights to territories occupied in 1988, remains a major obstacle.
CIMI’s 2024 report highlights increasing violence against Indigenous leaders, showing how the failure to secure land rights fuels both social conflict and environmental destruction.
Science with and for Indigenous peoples
Discussions at the seminar emphasised that Indigenous land rights are not only about justice, but also about sustaining the ecosystems on which we all depend. Indigenous peoples manage some of the world’s most biodiverse landscapes, and their governance systems are crucial for resilience in the face of global change.
The seminar showed how scientific collaborations can support Indigenous struggles, while also challenging researchers to rethink resilience through Indigenous perspectives of territory, ancestry, and community.
As Uruba Pataxó reflected: “The Pataxó people have been resisting since the arrival of colonisers. Protecting our rights is protecting nature itself.”
