Yara Aquino
Reporter - Agencia Brasil

Brasilia – A study developed by the Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) indicates that Indian reservations work as barrier to the deforestation in the Amazon, avoiding the destruction of approximately 3.5 million hectares of forest. The entity analyzed data from the National Space Research Institute (INPE), about the region’s deforestation between 1988 and 2004.

The study, called "Diagnostic of Threatened Indigenous Land in the Amazon," simulates what the deforestation levels within indigenous land would be, if they were to reproduce the same development patterns observed in non-Indian areas. The result reveals 3.5 million hectares of protected forest. COIAB points out the existence of roads (paved or not), river accessibility, and population density as the factors that most contribute to deforestation.

The entity intends to present the study to the government in order to warn it about the need to preserve the forest, as well as to show the strategic role played by indigenous populations in this matter. "If we want to have the Amazon as a Brazilian patrimony, we must invest on indigenous land," summarizes COIAB’s general coordinator, Jecinaldo Cabral.

COIAB also wants the support of the private sector that operates in the region, for the preservation of the Amazon. "We want to reach out to this sector, which still has a timid relationship with indigenous people."

Translation: Andréa Alves