MANAUS, Brazil, October 2, 2001 - Deni Indian chiefs pledged today that they would continue to physically cut a border around their lands in the Amazon rainforest to keep out illegal loggers, in spite of the Brazilian government's recent attempt to stop them. Cutting a border through the rainforest is one of the final steps in the demarcation of Indian lands under Brazilian law. Three Brazilian organizations, including Greenpeace, have been providing logistical support to the Deni and have pledged to continue their assistance.

Last Friday, 17 days after the Deni began demarcating their lands, Greenpeace received a letter from FUNAI, the Federal Government Indian Agency in Brazil. The letter ordered the immediate suspension of the demarcation project until the Minister of Justice formally acknowledges Deni ownership.

"We have being waiting for the Government to demarcate our lands since they said they would in 1985," said Chief Biruvi Deni of the Deni Indians. "They haven't kept their promises so we had to do it. Why are they trying to stop us now?"

Greenpeace informed the Deni in 1999 that a part of their lands had been sold to WTK, a Malaysian logging company. A Greenpeace expedition went to the area to investigate illegal logging activities in the region. At the time, the Deni people were unaware of the plans to log their land. The Deni then asked Greenpeace, along with two other organizations familiar with Amazon Indian issues, to assist them in demarcating their own land.

"Brazil's government should be assisting in the demarcation process instead of trying to block it," said Greenpeace Forests Campaigner Scott Paul. "Government recognition of this demarcation would legitimize all the work the Deni have already done, and formally protect this land from illegal loggers."

In most cases, the Brazilian government has handled the demarcation process with little intervention by the indigenous community involved. Once demarcation is recognized by the government, permits for logging and other destructive industrial activities cannot be issued for these lands. This is one of the first times that an Indian group has, without government assistance, demarcated their lands in the Amazon.

For more information on the Deni demarcation project, read the current feature, Into the Heart of the Amazon - The Greenpeace Deni Indian Expedition.