Helcio Souza, Indigenous Strategy Coordinator, Brazil Conservation Program
hsouza@tnc.org

Background

Indigenous peoples and local communities are among the most important leaders in conservation. Their rights to and relationships with lands and waters, and their longstanding knowledge of natural systems and resources, make them essential and inspirational allies for building a healthy and sustainable future. However, throughout the world, indigenous peoples and local communities are often denied the opportunity to participate effectively in the decisions and interventions that impact their lands, waters and livelihoods. They face exclusion and dispossession, and are confronted by development prospects that undermine their cultural and environmental heritage and priorities. This poses a significant threat to people and nature, both locally and globally, that will become only more acute as pressures on land and resources continue to grow. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is working to remedy this power imbalance by creating and supporting opportunities for indigenous peoples and local communities to play a stronger role in natural resource decision-making and management.

Located in the Tapajós basin, the Paresi people have a strong environmental, cultural and economic connection to their rivers and surrounding ecosystems. The Paresi Associacãos Waymare and Halitinã are the governance bodies responsible for overseeing the sustainable development projects across the entire Parecis territories of nine lands, which include many thriving conservation, economic and cultural activities. Supporting the Paresi's strong governance and leadership in conservation and sustainable development decisions and initiatives in their territories, and integrating their priorities, perspectives and leadership into the Hydropower by Design process, is critical for realizing a vibrant and healthy future for both people and nature in one of the last conserved and important water sources in the region.

Map 1. The Paresi lands in Brazil

The Hydropower by Design approach's central focus on stakeholder engagement is critical in the context of the Tapajós basin. The Tapajós River is one of the largest tributaries to the Amazon basin, covering almost 6 percent of the Brazilian territory and serving as a main source of life for over 1.4 million people. The basin contains 30 conservation reserves (national and state), 42 indigenous lands and locations of other traditional communities. In this context, TNC is working in partnership with the Paresi people to build an information foundation that includes both traditional knowledge and western science, assess options, present results, and embed these results within an ongoing decision-making and management process aligned with the Paresi's vision and priorities for their territories.

This partnership works to achieve these goals through the development of an Indigenous Territorial and Environmental Management Plan (PGTA), which is being led by the Paresi Associacãos Waymare and Halitinã, and will reflect the Paresi's specific vision for their lands and waters. With their incorporation in the Hydropower by Design process, the PGTAs serve as a dialogue and decision-support tool to strengthen Paresi engagement with government, corporate, non-profit and other entities, thus supporting their involvement and leadership in decisions and actions that impact their territories, and providing an integrated, equitable approach to conservation and sustainable development in the Tapajós.

Summary of Approach

In response to the demands of and collaboration with indigenous peoples across the country, in 2012 Brazil established a National Policy on Territorial and Environmental Management of Indigenous Lands (PNGATI). Developed by a coalition that included 150 indigenous groups, The Nature Conservancy and other institutions, PNGATI endorses indigenous-led conservation, natural resource management and environmental restoration, and it officially recognizes the PGTAs.

PNGATI and the implementation of PGTAs on indigenous territories throughout Brazil is an important additional support for helping infrastructure projects are develop with indigenous consultation, engagement and leadership, resulting in decisions and activities that reflect indigenous priorities and include their valuable knowledge of the lands and waters. This partnership project supports the Paresi people in developing their PGTA, in order to achieve strengthened indigenous leadership in management of their territory and participation in infrastructure-related, and other, decisions. The PGTA approach supports communities in outlining and articulating their shared values and priorities, strengthening their mapping and monitoring capabilities, building an understanding of the relevant government programs available to them, strengthening their internal organizations for dealing with outside interests in their territory, and forming internal agreements about how to develop (and conserve) their territory to create the future they want for themselves and the generations to come. This approach reflects TNC's work around the world, and throughout Brazil, to support indigenous peoples and local communities in their territorial mapping, planning and management processes.

A key component of the participatory process for developing PGTAs is ethno-mapping and ethno-zoning. These processes are led by the indigenous peoples and serve as a tool for advancing their aspirations and visions; an important step in developing the PGTAs. An ethno-zoned map reflects and integrates indigenous values, land uses, significant features, and priorities for different parts of the landscape into a spatial map. It also takes into consideration relevant policies and development opportunities, and it supports the indigenous peoples in making internal agreements about priorities for managing their territories.

Products/Results/Outcomes

The Nature Conservancy , the Brazilian Government, and the Paresi's partnership to develop a PGTA aims to contribute to sustainable development activities that are aligned with both conservation and cultural values in the Paresi territory, as well as broader Hydropower by Design efforts throughout the Tapajós basin. The project includes three phases:

• Preparation, information-sharing, consultation and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) with Paresi associations and leadership about developing their PGTA
• Territorial ethno-mapping and ethno-zoning in the Paresi's territories
• Paresi PGTA development

As of early 2017, this project is in the second phase, and the team is carrying out ethno-mapping and ethno-zoning.

The first phase included initial consultations, capacity-building and desk research. The team is currently developing the preliminary ethno-map. The outcomes so far include

Phase 1 (FPIC):

• Several successful meetings and regional assemblies with indigenous leaders from different villages to discuss and agree upon the process for developing the PGTA

Phase 2 (Development of the ethno-map):

• Desk research on the Paresi and their lands where the ethno-mapping/zoning and PGTA will be developed, in order to organize relevant information that will allow the consultants to propose an initial methodology for the ethno-mapping process, based on intercultural dialogue
• Cartographic support materials for field work and ethno-mapping workshops, including high-definition satellite images in digital format
• Workplan that includes project guidelines and implementation schedule
• Trained indigenous ethno-mapping monitoring agents, FUNAI (federal agency for indigenous relations) agents and collaborators
• Ethno-mapping workshops
• Field surveys conducted by indigenous monitoring agents

Figure 1. Ethno-mapping the lands (photo credit: OPAN of Brazil)

As this partnership is rooted in Paresi leadership, the principle of seeking FPIC at all stages of the project is central to all activities, and the team is particularly focused on building a strong partnership based on relationships rooted in mutual respect and driven by a shared agenda. The activities to-date have laid the groundwork for strengthening the Paresi's voice in decisions that are made on or near their lands, including infrastructure development in the Tapajós basin, and supporting their leadership in realizing a future aligned with their vision and priorities.

These outcomes contribute to a number of TNC strategies, including the TNC Brazil Indigenous Program strategy tothrough strengthen indigenous lands system management, and the Brazil Business and Indigenous Peoples Dialogue Initiative to strengthen companies' respect for indigenous rights, implementation of best practices for indigenous consultation, engagement and FPIC, and enhancement of working relationships among companies, the government and indigenous peoples contributing to sustainable infrastructure.

Next Steps in the Work

The next steps will be to finalize the preliminary versions of the ethno-maps, to be discussed among indigenous leaders from different villages and then reviewed and revised by indigenous monitoring agents. The final digital ethno-map will be developed based on this input, along with an explanatory report on ethno-mapping development and recommendations for their use. The third and final phase of this project will be the development of the PGTA, to include village-level workshops, discussions among indigenous leaders, and review and revision by indigenous monitoring agents and indigenous associations, resulting in a finalized PGTA. The team will then support the implementation of the PGTA..

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Approach

The PGTA approach is rooted in strengthening the voice, choice and action of indigenous peoples and local communities in decisions and activities on and near their territories, facilitating the inclusion of traditional knowledge and local priorities in plans and activities, and supporting indigenous leadership in decisions and actions that impact their territories and well-being.

The PGTAs enable the negotiation of internal and external agreements, which builds channels of dialogue with the State, civil society organizations and companies to improve the articulations and institutional arrangements that contribute to the process of ethno-development and sustainability of the peoples and Indigenous Lands. In addition, the PGTA represents one of the possible instruments for structuring and articulating the actions of the indigenous government body, guiding the relationship between the State and indigenous peoples, insofar as they seek to promote and develop coordinated and structured actions in Indigenous Lands between public policy and indigenous politics, placing them at the same level of importance. In the same way, the PGTA works as an additional framework to guide good corporate practices of respect for indigenous rights.

By remedying power imbalances and facilitating an inclusive and empowering approach to conservation and sustainable development, partnerships like the one with the Paresis demonstrate the power of an inclusive Hydropower by Design process, serving as a model of a truly collaborative approach for other parts of Brazil and around the world

Suggestions for Others Considering a Similar Approach

The most important part of this approach is building relationships rooted in trust and mutual respect. In working with indigenous peoples and local communities, it is important to work through their own institutions while fostering an inclusive engagement approach, which entails being sensitive to each community and sub-group's preferred language, format, location and time of day/year for meeting. It is critical to proceed with project activities only with the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of the indigenous peoples and local communities involved, and it is important to work on strengthening the voice, choice and action of indigenous peoples and local communities, based on their priorities and a shared conservation and sustainable development agenda.

It is also important to understand how to appropriately involve other stakeholders. The Nature Conservancy, as a trusted convener, often has a unique opportunity to bring private, public and civil society entities into the discussion, and doing so requires full transparency, deep preparation and capacity building of all those involved.