Reviewing Amazonian Countries Policies for the Protection of Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact (IPVIIC) and Its Implications for Territorial Dynamics and Indigenous Peoples’ Development in Amazonia

Abstract

The Amazon region is home to two thirds of the world indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact (IPVIIC). Amazonian governments created institutions and enacted legislation for their protection since the nineteenth century, in the case of Brazil, while other 4 Amazonian countries did so during the twentieth century. The Brazilian and Peruvian legislations and experiences have informed other Amazonian countries. The ACTO and USAID have also contributed technical and economic means to consolidate these processes. While in the last decades national Amazonian indigenous people’s organizations have led these policies providing ideas, personnel, and resources to contribute to the well-being of these peoples and prevent undesired contact. The most recent proposal aims for the coordinated management of larger territorial corridors. These are areas connected through the very same dense forests, sometimes the size of a country, but which have been divided in imaginary polygons for the protection of IPVIIC and biodiversity (indigenous people’s lands and protected areas). Which are common issues considered in these legislations? Which issues are still in debate? Which are the most pressing needs of these peoples? What is the impact of these policies on the daily lives of IPVIIC? This chapter offers a review of these issues, linking the somewhat abstract issues with data on the situation experienced by these peoples and current trends on these countries’ public policies.