Landless Rural Workers and Indigenous peoples take joint action in reforestation activity in Brazil

In a joint action, the Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST, in Portuguese), Kaingang and Guarani Mbya Indigenous peoples airdropped three tons of juçara and araucaria palm seeds. The activity in Rio das Cobras Indigenous Land in the state of Paraná, southern Brazil, is part of MST's Nature Day.

The event held on Tuesday (4) was attended by the Minister for Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara; the head of the Presidency's General Secretariat, Márcio Macêdo; and the interim Minister for Agrarian Development, Fernanda Machiaveli.

Indigenous leaders from different regions of the state came to personally hand over their demands to federal government representatives. This is the first time Sonia Guajajara has visited an Indigenous land in Paraná as minister.

In a document drawn up after a meeting of Indigenous leaders the previous night, they demand the demarcation of lands, public policies to promote agriculture, policies for access to housing and improvements in Indigenous health and education.

"Our main agenda is [to guarantee] compliance with the Constitution, with ILO [International Labor Organization] Convention 169, with Brazil's Education Guidelines and Framework Law, which has a specific chapter on Indigenous school education," says Elizandra Freitas, a Kaingang teacher from Rio das Cobras Indigenous land.

"In terms of health, we demand that medical care for Indigenous people be differentiated in hospitals outside our territories, where our rights are often disrespected," she adds.

The federal government authorities arrived in the morning hearing and watching Kaingang songs and dances performed by the Goykipyn Indigenous Youth Collective and the Vahga group. Then, Sonia Guajajara boarded the Federal Highway Police helicopter which, in partnership with the MST, is operating the flights for the airdropping of seeds. The minister accompanied the first airdropping of araucaria tree seeds of the day.

Minister Sônia Guajajara accompanied the first airdropping of araucaria tree seeds of the day. / Gabriela Moncau

About 12,000 juçara and araucaria seeds will be planted by Friday (7), the end of the MST event, whose slogan is "Sowing life to confront the environmental crisis."

"We are planting the future," said Sonia Guajajara. "And here, today, we are not only recovering native plants and the environment but also guaranteeing food security. It's an example set by this Indigenous and MST partnership," she said.

Machiaveli, who is in charge of the Ministry for Agrarian Development while Minister Paulo Teixeira is in China, said she saw "productive forests". "It's the dream we have in the Ministry for Agrarian Development program already being made possible by civil society organizations: reforestation and productive restoration based on native crops, but also producing food and generating income," she said.

At the end of the event, the leader of the Rio das Cobras Indigenous Land, Ângelo Rufino, thanked the authorities for their presence and welcomed the fact that an Indigenous woman has a seat at the top of the government. "I've been knocking on your door since you were appointed. I hope you will meet our demands," he said, addressing Guajajara.

Landless workers and Indigenous people united

Although the relationship between landless farmers and Indigenous peoples in the region is long-standing, joint activities between the MST and the Indigenous people of Rio das Cobras, the largest Indigenous land in the state of Paraná, have taken shape over the last five years. One of the biggest boosts happened during the pandemic when the MST carried out a series of actions to distribute food from the agrarian reform.

"We are fighting for our land just like them," saysTarcísio Leopoldo, from the MST/ Gabriela Moncau

In 2023, the Indigenous communities created the Forest Fire Prevention and Fighting Brigade, PrevFogo. It is the first in southern Brazil to be integrated into the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama, in Portuguese) federal program.

"Today there are 15 members, including two women. This team has strengthened reforestation initiatives. The Rio das Cobras Indigenous Land Association also had the idea of working with the MST because we realized that our struggles are often similar," says Elizandra.

"Talking to the leaders here on the Indigenous land, we knew that the araucaria is a sacred tree for them. And we have, in our communities in Guarapuava and Pinhão, the richness of the coexistence with the araucaria trees and the collection of pine nuts," explains Tarcísio Leopoldo, from the MST state leadership in Paraná. "So, we talked to them about the possibility of doing a sowing experiment here, and they liked the idea," he says.

"When you deforest, you're practically taking life. We indigenous people are doing our bit. Brazil needs to do its part too," the chief points out.

In Rio das Cobras Indigenous Land there are 1150 Kaingang and Guarani Mbya families/ Gabriela Moncau

Land demarcation

Last April, in Brasilia, during the Free Land Camp, the largest Indigenous mobilization in the country, the expectation was that President Lula (Workers Party) would sign the definitive demarcation of six Indigenous territories. The demarcation, however, only happened in two areas.

With a year and a half left in office, the federal government has demarcated 10 of the 14 Indigenous Lands identified by the Transition Group as ready to have their demarcation ratified. The Indigenous movement demanded that all of them be signed within the first 100 days of government.

Rio das Cobras, with 19,000 hectares, 11 Indigenous communities and around 1150 families, has been ratified since 1991. The situation, however, is not the norm in the state of Paraná.

"The demarcation of the Rio das Cobras Indigenous Land is a fight carried out by our ancestors. But right here in the town of Novas Laranjeiras, we have the Boa Vista Indigenous community, which has not yet been ratified. It's still in the process of being demarcated," Elizandra said.

On her way to the van at the end of the event, Minister Sonia Guajajara was asked by Brasil de Fato about the forecast for the demarcation of new Indigenous Lands. She limited herself to saying "We are working towards this, always."