Environmental Repercussions of Indigenato

Abstract

The constitutional recognition of *indigenato*—the congenital right of Indigenous peoples over the lands they traditionally occupy or once occupied, which are essential for their self-determination, subsistence, development, and the preservation of their millenary traditions and cultures—resulted from a historical process within the framework of a fraternal constitutionalism. In this context, *indigenato* should be regarded as a legal institution encompassing social, cultural, and environmental rights, whose cross-cutting nature is clearly defined within the environmental subsystem.

The normative force derived from a transversal reading of the socio-environmental rights enshrined in the Brazilian Constitution, shaped by this historical background and consistent with current realities (legal constitution and real factors of power), leads to the conclusion that Indigenous lands—covering about 1,000,000 km² (13% of the national territory)—are environmental reserves of considerable potential. They are directly relevant to the perpetuation of the human species on the planet, which is threatened by environmental degradation and global warming.