Fire Policies and Indigenous Rights Across Mexico, Central and South America

• In Event: Earth Relationalities: Indigenous Ecologies and Environmentalisms

Abstract

Indigenous communities are increasingly recognized as key to forest regeneration, with attention given to fire management. Historically, fire was used, and in many cases continues today, as a means to burn undergrowth to allow for reforestation. Despite this recognition, little research focuses on the laws that allow or restrict these practices. We add to existing literature by focusing on the types of national laws applied to Indigenous communities across Mexico, Central, and South America. We specifically explore what countries are more likely to have laws that provide more fire autonomy for Indigenous communities, and what factors contribute to more autonomous laws. Initial findings indicate that commitment to the ILO 169 treaty – protection of rights of Indigenous Tribal Communities – and an increased number of International Non-Governmental Organizations lead to a higher passage of fire autonomous laws for Indigenous communities. The former suggests that both international pressure to sign and domestic pressure to adhere to the international treaty allows for greater fire autonomy. The latter implies that local activism leads to greater fire autonomy, since INGOs are an indicator civil society.

Authors

• Kathleen M. Fallon, Stony Brook University

• Kajol Patel, Stony Brook University

• Merica Griffin, Stony Brook University