Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday that he intends to approve “as soon as possible” new lands reserved for indigenous people, whose legalization remained at an impasse during the mandate of his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, AFP reported, according to Agerpress.

“I asked the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs to show me all the lands prepared for approval. They must be approved as soon as possible before others appropriate them (…) with false documents,” Lula da Silva said during a gathering of indigenous leaders in the state of Roraima (north).

“It is necessary to quickly legalize all lands whose surveys (delimitations) have been prepared or are practically ready so that local residents can occupy their territory,” the left-wing president insisted.

What is this procedure for?

In the Brazilian Amazon, people routinely grab land to clear it and then claim it officially with fake documents.

Lula da Silva recalled the important role of indigenous peoples in limiting deforestation and slowing down global warming.

Homologation of new indigenous lands “will help us take care of the climate, otherwise humanity will disappear because of our irresponsibility,” he said.

“Indigenous people do not occupy someone else’s land, they are fighting for what was taken from them by invaders since 1500, the year the first Portuguese colonizers arrived in Brazil,” the head of state added.

According to the latest population census of 2010, there are approximately 800,000 indigenous people living in the country, most of them on reservations that occupy 13.75% of the territory.

Shortly before the start of his mandate (2019-2022), Jair Bolsonaro promised that he would not “give an inch” to indigenous lands, and the process of approving new reservations has been effectively blocked for the past four years.

During his presidency, average annual deforestation also increased by 75% compared to the previous decade.

The return to power of Lula da Silva, who previously ruled Brazil from 2003 to 2010, had no immediate impact on deforestation, which rose 62 percent last month from February 2022, destroying a record 322 square kilometers.

But environmental associations believe that it is too early to draw conclusions. According to them, to assess the consequences of the new left-wing government’s environmental policy, it is necessary to wait for the dry season, starting in July, when deforestation is usually at its maximum.