Brazil renews protection of little-seen Amazon tribe for six months
Last edited Sat Sep 18, 2021, 08:52 AM - Edit history (1)
September 17, 2021
2:25 PM CDT
Last Updated 7 hours ago
Americas
By Anthony Boadle
3 minute read
BRASILIA, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The only two known male members of the Piripkura tribe in Brazil live in isolation on ancestral lands the size of Luxembourg in the Amazon rainforest, resisting decades of invasion by loggers and cattle ranchers.
Brazil's indigenous affairs agency Funai renewed a protection order on Friday for the 242,500-hectare (599,230-acre) area in western Mato Grosso state. But the renewed protection will last just six months, unlike the three-year extensions granted for the territory since 2008.
The Piripkura's fate has become a test of indigenous rights under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has criticized reservations for giving too much land to too few people and blocking the expansion of mining and farming.
Indigenous rights advocates had pressed for a three-year extension as in previous renewals. Advocate group Survival International called it a "stay of execution" by the government to gauge reactions before ending the protection altogether.
More:
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-renews-protection-little-seen-amazon-tribe-six-months-2021-09-17/
