Climate mitigation or knowledge deprivation? Learning from indigenous socio-environmental funds

Purpose: To reflect on effects of exposing indigenous peoples to neoliberal approaches to mitigate climate change by examining Brazil’s first indigenous peoples’ socio-environmental funds, discussing conflicts, collaborations and how funds help or hinder symbiosis of REDD+ with indigenous practices. Methodology/Approach: Primary data collected between 2011-15; Observation; Open-ended and Semi-structured Interviews; Focus Groups; Coding; Literature Review. Findings: The analysis undertaken indicates that the realities of neoliberal and capitalist practices impose requirements and demands on indigenous peoples, restricting their ability to properly implement the objectives of the funds and affecting their traditional practices and forms of social organization. Research Limitation/implication: Last field data collected in 2015, but the lessons we point out are valuable. Originality/Value of paper: The conflicts and collaborations discussed add to the debate on neoliberalization of nature and give more evidence to suggest that re-thinking climate mitigation strategies is timely and urgent, and indigenous knowledge have a significant role in this process.