Puré
National Park: protection for indigenous territories
and a
biological corridor. |
Until January 2002 the region of the Puré river, which is located in the department of Amazonas, in Colombia, between the Caquetá and Putumayo rivers, was under the legal figure of forest reserve (Law 2 of 1959). The pressure of advancing colonisation had made the zone vulnerable to exploitation of natural resources, and this made it necessary to seek measures for protection and management.
Through a process of inter-institutional collaboration between the Parks Division of the Ministry for the Environment (UAESPNN), the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Biological Research, CORPOAMAZONIA and Gaia Amazonas, the importance of protecting the zone was recognised, and a proposal was made for the creation of the National Natural Park of the Puré River.
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Once a favourable concept had been provided by the Organisation of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (OPIAC), on 5th August 2002 the Ministry for the Environment duly signed Resolution No. 0764, for the establishment of the National Natural Park, whose area is approximately 998.880 hectares.
The establishment of the Natural Park was a positive move, and enables mechanisms to be put into place for the protection of temporary and permanent flooded forest associated with the rivers of the zone, and favours the creation of a biological corridor that connects the protected areas of the north-west Colombian Amazon with Brazil and Venezuela. This is a step forward in the protection of the biological and cultural diversity, which has a particular characteristic in the region, given that indigenous people from the Yuri (also known as Caraballo or Arojes) ethnic group, who have had no type of contact with other social groups, between the Bernardo river and the head of the Puré river. |
| Demarcation
of Indigenous Territories
- Venezuela |
ORPIA is working on a project to guarantee titles of collective land ownership by indigenous peoples in the state of Amazonas.
In March 2002, and given the urgent need to unify criteria and concepts on theme of demarcation, a technical meeting for self-demarcation was held with community leaders from the region, and with interested experts in the theme including Gaia Amazonas (Colombia) and GTZ (Germany).
The communities presented preliminary boundaries of their territories, and there was the opportunity for an exchange of experiences in self-demarcation of indigenous territories with the Colombian Amazon, and with the Yekuana people of Alto Caura (Bolivar, Venezuela).
The project continues in the stage of demarcation, which includes Community Assemblies where the matter is debated with elders, shamans and leaders from the communities. As a result of these assemblies, maps have been drawn of the indigenous territories, including specific topographic detail and the areas of production and consumption.
Once this stage has been completed, the second phase of the project will begin. This consists of drafting the necessary legal requests for processing state recognition of the indigenous territories.
The Organic Law of Indigenous Peoples and Communities, proposed by the Venezuelan Government in February 2003, includes wide-reaching indigenous rights. This makes is an important instrument in support of the process of territorial self-demarcation, and the participation of indigenous peoples in the formulation and development of initiatives that affect their territories.
The Matavén Forest extends across 2.150.000 hectares in the department of Vichada, between the savannah of the Orinoco and the humid tropical forest of the Amazon. Three large rivers form its natural borders: the Vichada river to the north, the Orinoco river to the east, and the Guaviare river to the south. The smaller Chupave River forms the western limit.
Although the majority of the region is covered by humid tropical forest, the isolated savannahs in the midst of the Matavén Forest make it a refuge for different species of flora and fauna. Its rocky outcrops that rise in the central part of the forest are sacred places or points of reference in the mythology of the different ethnic groups of the region.
Of the 2.150.000 hectares that form the Matavén Forest, 970.000 belong to the 16 indigenous resguardos (collective indigenous territories) that border the region and form a protective belt. These resguardos are inhabited by 10.449 indigenous people, from six different ethno-linguistic groups: Sikuani, Piapoco, Piaroa, Puinave, Curripaco and Cubeo.
In the central part of the Matavén Forest there is a zone of 1.180.000 that is largely uninhabited and well conserved. However the belt of resguardos that protects the region is exposed at the extreme western side, leaving the Matavén Forest threatened by the advance of colonisation that is associated with the illegal cultivation of the coca-leaf.
Aware that the very survival of their people depends to a large extent on the conservation of the Matavén Forest, the indigenous authorities have requested that the government recognise the central zone under the legal figure of an indigenous resguardo, but for common use by all the indigenous peoples of the region and for conservation purposes. On 5th December 2002, the indigenous authorities submitted a formal request to INCORA (Government entity), for the creation of this resguardo, as a means to protect the heart of the Matavén Forest. Fundación Etnollano
