Declaration of Four Guarani Territories Marks Important Victory for #DemarcaYvyrupa Campaign
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Through Synchronicity Earth's pooled fund, Be The Earth is proud to support Comissão Guarani Yvyrupa (CGY) - an Indigenous organisation that brings together Guarani collectives across the South and Southeast regions of Brazil.
The announcement of the Declaratory Decrees represents the protection of more than 11,000 hectares in four Indigenous Territories in São Paulo and Paraná and reaffirms the Guarani's leading role in the conservation of the Atlantic Forest.
After years of struggle and mobilisation, several indigenous peoples celebrate today (17) the achievement of the Declaratory Decrees of their traditional territories. The announcement was made by Minister Sonia Guajajara, during the 30th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP30), in Belém.
In total, ten indigenous lands have advanced to this stage, in which the Brazilian State officially recognises the perimeter of the areas and declares them to be the permanent possession of the indigenous peoples who traditionally live there. This act also authorises the physical demarcation of their boundaries, a step that precedes the homologation and definitive registration of the territories as areas for the exclusive use of the communities that live there.
The four lands traditionally occupied by the Guarani people in the southern and southeastern regions, declared today, are: Pakurity, Ka'aguy Hovy, and Ka'aguy Mirim, in São Paulo, and Sambaqui, in Paraná, regions covered by the Guarani Yvyrupa Commission. In addition, a Guarani land in Mato Grosso do Sul, the region of operation of Aty Guasu, the Ypo'i Triunfo Indigenous Land, also received a declaratory decree.
The declaration of the lands in the southern and southeastern regions is another important victory for the #DemarcaYvyrupa campaign, launched by the Guarani Yvyrupa Commission in 2023, to mobilise the federal government for the demarcation of Guarani lands.
This achievement adds to the other seven Guarani lands declared and one ratified last year.
Thus, between 2024 and 2025, nine Guarani lands were declared in the Vale do Ribeira region, in São Paulo, an important territorial complex of the Guarani people.
The announcement was made at a symbolic moment, following the Indigenous March “The Answer is Us,” during COP 30, which brought thousands of Indigenous leaders from Brazil and around the world to the streets of Belém (PA). The main demand of the Guarani people's actions at the event is the demarcation of Indigenous Lands as an essential climate policy to guarantee the conservation of their territories and protect the lives of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
In the Atlantic Forest, the data reinforces this urgency. According to a study by the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA), Indigenous Lands within the biome have, on average, 53.7% of their original vegetation preserved, representing 31.5% more vegetation conservation than areas outside of them, demonstrating that the demarcation and protection of these territories are crucial for maintaining one of the most threatened biomes in the country.
The issuance of the Declaratory Decree for the Indigenous Lands of Pakurity, Ka'aguy Hovy, Ka'aguy Mirim (SP) and Sambaqui (PR) represents the protection of more than 11,000 hectares of Guarani lands in the region with the largest continuous remnant of the Atlantic Forest.
This region, recognised by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve, has been protected for centuries by traditional peoples and communities, including the Guarani people.
The struggle for the demarcation of these Indigenous Lands is historic. In recent years, the communities have resisted a series of attacks against their territories, from the construction of illegal subdivisions to the advancement of projects with serious socio-environmental impacts. Even in this adverse context, the communities have built support networks and continued fighting for the demarcation of their lands.
The four territories located in the southern and southeastern regions of the country that were declared today had their demarcation studies approved by FUNAI between 2016 and 2017 and, since then, have been awaiting the continuation of the demarcation process to ensure security in their tekoa (traditional Guarani lands).
The regularisation of these territories is central so that the communities can continue protecting them from invasions, deforestation, hunters, mining companies, and other predatory activities common in this region.
It also allows communities to strengthen traditional planting practices, reforestation initiatives in areas deforested by non-indigenous people, to follow the traditional trails trodden by their ancestors as a way of monitoring and protecting the territory, to carry out fauna and flora monitoring activities, and to strengthen nhandereko (Guarani ways of life).
In September of this year, leaders from the Guarani lands in the Ribeira Valley region were in Brasília for a meeting at the Ministry of Justice. On that occasion, Xeramõi Marcílio, chief of the Itapuã tekoa (Ka'aguy Hovy Indigenous Territory), expressed hope for the issuance of the Declaratory Decree:
“I believe in this because Nhanderu [deity] is protecting. And Nhanderu will bring sensitivity to the hearts of the authorities present here. The land, the forests are not to be cut down and mistreated. The Guarani want the land to protect it.”
At the time, Xeramõi also refuted narratives against demarcation:
“Some people say that the jurua [non-indigenous people] brought the Guarani to their areas. But that's not true; the Guarani villages are in places that were revealed by the deities to be villages. The jurua took the lands from the Guarani. These lands were left by the deities to be villages. And the Guarani are not asking for the demarcation of enormous tracts of land, but only what is necessary,” he explains.
Now, with the publication of the Declaratory Decrees, the feeling of hope expressed in Belém resonates in different communities. Xeramõi Tiago Verá, from the Pakurity Indigenous Land, received the news with deep emotion, grateful to be able to witness this moment in his lifetime.
“I prayed a lot for this to happen one day. I asked to hear this news while I was still here, not after I was gone. And today, finally, it has arrived. Everything I do is for my nephews, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren, and for all the children yet to come.
I have been here for a long time, long before many were born.
Just yesterday I spoke with my nephews, around the campfire, about this territory, and we prayed that the demarcation would come soon, so that we could plant without fear of those who claim to own it, the white people.”
The Guarani people continue their struggle! In the southern and southeastern regions alone, there are dozens of Guarani lands with pending issues in the demarcation process. Among them, three are ready for approval by the Presidency of the Republic, and two others await the signing of the Declaratory Decree.
