Invaders attack indigenous land in the Amazon, threatening isolated people

In mid-August, nearly 200 people invaded the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Land in Pará, breaking down Funai gates, tearing down warning signs, and setting up camps within a territory reserved for isolated indigenous peoples. The invasion occurred after a new state law created the Bacajaí Environmental Protection Area (APA Bacajaí), which completely overlaps with the indigenous land protected by the federal government. According to authorities, the legal insecurity caused by the measure has been exploited by land grabbers to justify the occupation of the area for cattle ranching and other agricultural activities. The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) and the Public Defender's Office of the Union (DPU) warned of the imminent risk of violent confrontation and possible genocide of the isolated people of Igarapé Ipiaçava. Since 2011, this vulnerable population has been protected by a series of temporary orders restricting land use, which prohibit the entry of unauthorized persons into Ituna/Itatá. In 2025, Funai renewed the precautionary measure. The first invasions were reported one day after Pará published the new state law in the Official Gazette on August 12, 2026, announcing the creation of the APA Bacajaí in the municipalities of Altamira and Senador José Porfírio. The APA covers approximately 142,400 hectares of the Brazilian Amazon and overlaps "100% with the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Land." The bill, presented in June by Pará state deputy Francisco Torres de Paula Filho, known as Torrinho Torres, was unanimously approved and became law a month later. "What on August 13 was limited…This article was originally published on Mongabay