When Sonia Guajajara was appointed leader of Brazil’s first Ministry of Indigenous Peoples in 2023, it was supposed to bring the Indigenous agenda to the centre of power.
In an interview with Dialogue Earth, she described it as an “historic act of redress” and a demonstration of the role of Indigenous peoples in strengthening Brazil’s democracy.
Editor’s note:
This article is the third of a three-part series examining Brazil’s climate leadership through Indigenous stewardship: from grassroots influence, to representation in congress, and the outcomes of the country’s first Ministry of Indigenous Peoples.
The creation of the Indigenous ministry was part of a broader strategy by the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to reposition Brazil as a global climate leader, following the socioenvironmental setbacks of the previous administration. Last year, more than 5,000 Indigenous representatives took part in the UN climate change summit, COP30, held in Brazil’s Amazonian city of Belém, Pará state. Progress was made on key proposals, such as the demarcation of Indigenous lands.
Despite significant strides in protecting Indigenous lands and the environment, however, challenges remain. Illegal mining and extraction continue.
In this Brazilian election year, Dialogue Earth analyses whether the ministry’s creation has led to concrete results – and how this impacts Brazil’s ambitions to be a global climate leader.
Our analysis found:
- The Lula government demarcated 41 Indigenous territories, a significant increase from the previous, Bolsonaro government, but lower than during Lula’s first two terms.
- Deforestation in Indigenous territories reached 483 km2 in the year to July 2025, close to the record set in 2019.
- Approximately one fifth of civil servants at the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples come from Indigenous backgrounds, something which activists say has led to more Indigenous inclusion in policymaking.
Andreia Fanzeres, director of the Indigenous rights programme at Opan, an organisation that has worked on Indigenous issues for more than five decades, stated that these efforts had enabled Indigenous demands to reach more public and decision-making forums: “The voices of Indigenous peoples have reached unprecedented levels in terms of advocacy and being heard, and are now treated with greater respect than in the past.”
A ministry is born
The new Indigenous ministry has been guided by a strategic plan, setting out priorities such as the recognition and protection of Indigenous territories and the inclusion of more Indigenous people in positions of power.
Some success has been made but there is still work to be done, according to Dinamam Tuxá, executive coordinator of the APIB, Brazil’s largest Indigenous organisation: “We want specific and strengthened health and education services, more young people in universities, public policies implemented in our territories and, above all, for our lands to be demarcated.”
Guajajara said her greatest challenge was to rebuild the Indigenous policy framework dismantled by Jair Bolsonaro, president until 2023, on a shoestring budget. Much of the legislature she worked with remained largely hostile to socioenvironmental issues. Even so, she stated, it had been possible to resume land demarcations, combat illegal mining and secure Indigenous representation in senior government posts.
Recognition of territories
The Manoki Indigenous people have fought through legal disputes and state evictions for more than 50 years to protect their territory. They finally found success at COP30 in November, when their land in Mato Grosso state was approved for demarcation. However, intruders continue to extract timber, set fires and clear land for pasture and crops within the territory, all while plots are illegally auctioned off.
“We still cannot enjoy, plant or live on that part of the land,” Manoki leader Marta Tipuici told Dialogue Earth.
Land demarcations, which boost Indigenous rights to manage zoned land, are seen as a solution to the climate crisis. They have been found to reduce deforestation and empower communities to protect their environment. In her ministerial role, Guajajara had been advocating for the recognition of Indigenous lands as part of the solution to the climate crisis, at multiple international events.
Indigenous lands, such as the Manoki territory, protect at least 36% of the world’s intact forests, whilst deforestation and degradation account for 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In the Brazilian Amazon, of the 63,000 km2 deforested between 2012 and 2024, only 3% was on Indigenous lands, according to the organisation Imazon.
During Lula’s term, 41 territories have been formally recognised (20 ratified with full protection; 21 “declared”, an earlier stage) covering 4.8 million hectares. Further demarcations are still expected this year, according to Guajajara.
Even so, the pace of formal recognitions had been “modest”, according to the APIB. “Historically, the demand has been enormous, and no government has managed to meet it,” said Tuxá. “We know there is a political context, but there are processes that could have moved forward.”
Joenia Wapichana, who chaired Funai until March this year (the agency responsible for implementing the policies of the Indigenous ministry), has highlighted her team’s efforts to Dialogue Earth: there are 156 groups actively working on studies to identify and demarcate new territories. But the processes, she said, have become bogged down in other governmental bodies or in the courts.
The governments of the Brazilian states of Santa Catarina and Mato Grosso, for example, have taken legal action against the formal recognition of five territories. Those include the Manoki people’s. The matter remains unresolved and is now mired in legal uncertainty.
“The state in which we took over Funai – with no staff, no resources and no infrastructure – it was disheartening,” Wapichana said. But, she added: “I handed over a stronger Funai. We recognised Indigenous lands. The demarcation processes made progress.”
Defending territories against invasions
But demarcation alone is not enough. Without a state presence, Indigenous peoples are left to monitor territories that sometimes rival entire countries in size. Illegal activities such as landgrabbing, mining and deforestation can simply persist.
To help address this, the Indigenous ministry says operations have been carried out in 12 territories since 2023, primarily to combat gold mining.
One of the regions subject to these operations is the Yanomami territory, an area the size of Portugal straddling Amazonas and Roraima. An estimated 20,000 illegal miners have encroached here. The government claimed to have removed 98% of the intruders but locals say the issue is broader. They say they require protection units and measures to combat malaria, amid a growing public health emergency caused by the invasions.
To fund the Yanomami operations the Lula turned to the Amazon Fund, which had been paralysed for four years by the Bolsonaro government. The fund once again began attracting foreign donors, such as Norway and Germany, and became one of the main symbols of the rebuilding of Brazil’s environmental image abroad.
Nevertheless, deforestation on Indigenous lands in the Amazon – generally caused by landgrabs – reached 483 km2 between August 2024 and July 2025, according to data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), which monitors deforestation.
The figure is close to the 2019 record of 493.8 km2. It was partly driven by arson attacks in September 2024, which occurred around the Xingu and Capoto/Jarina territories in Mato Grosso. The extreme drought that year exacerbated the damage caused by the fires, which spread into Indigenous lands, according to INPE.
In the Munduruku territory, in Pará, operations lasted for three months between 2024 and 2025. Locals say their effects were short-lived. “The gold panners returned in force because they saw that the government did not maintain a permanent presence,” said Alessandra Korap, a Munduruku leader.
Guajajara acknowledged that Funai does not have enough staff to maintain a continuous presence across all territories. She admits the re-invasions have taken place, but insists that the situation “is nothing like it was before” the operations.
A ‘village-based executive’
Before taking up her post as minister, Guajajara argued for the urgent need to “bring the villages to the executive”. Today, Indigenous people hold unprecedented positions in public life, an achievement that experts believe is set to endure beyond this administration.
They account for a fifth of the ministry’s 163 posts, distributed across departments and directorates. Furthermore, the National Council for Indigenous Policy was re-established in 2024 after being abolished by Bolsonaro. It has restored a means through which Indigenous communities may influence public policy. Half of its members are Indigenous people and Indigenous rights activists, the other half civil servants.
“We have had the doors opened to us in all ministries to present the demands of the Indigenous movement,” said Tuxá, from APIB, who serves as vice-chair of the council.
For Adriana Ramos, executive secretary of the Socioenvironmental Institute, greater Indigenous presence in government has led to tangible progress: territorial management policies, a unit for mediating land disputes, and more quotas for Indigenous people in public sector recruitment exams.
The council’s discussions also helped to ensure their demands were included in the Climate Plan, the government’s flagship programme to tackle the climate crisis. It called for solutions to chronic problems such as insufficient access to drinking water and basic sanitation, which only makes adapting to climate change more difficult. The government also doubled investment in Indigenous health between 2022 and 2025, and set up a sanitation programme for Brazil’s Indigenous territories.
“Without addressing the most basic needs in these territories, there is no miracle plan to tackle extreme weather,” said Opan’s Fanzeres.
With presidential elections in October, Ramos warns that a future government opposed to Indigenous rights could reverse all this progress. This, she says, would have consequences not only for the territories but also for Brazil’s image abroad. The protection of Indigenous lands is now “a climate asset” that attracts international funding and partnerships. “A future anti-Indigenous government could trigger a devastating domino effect,” she said.
Fanzeres agreed that setbacks were possible but also said the spaces and positions occupied by Indigenous people in the country’s public and economic life were irreversible: “This is undoubtedly already a legacy.”
Amanda Magnani contributed to this report.
