Resumen

GAONA PANDO, Georgina. El derecho a la tierra y protección del medio ambiente por los pueblos indígenas. Nueva antropol [online]. 2013, vol.26, n.78, pp.141-161. ISSN 0185-0636.

Nowadays there is an international tendency to recognize the collective rights of indigenous peoples, especially land rights and the right to protect the environment. Some Latin American countries have made significant progress in this regard with the constitutional recognition of the possession and legal character of indigenous peoples in their territories. This has not yet been possible in Mexico, where there is a lack of recognition of land ownership, as well as of the rights to use and access natural resources found there, creating legal uncertainty and negatively impacting the possibilities for protection, preservation, and legal defense of the environment by indigenous peoples. This article analyzes the right of indigenous people to respect for the integrity and preservation of their natural environment as well as their right to natural resources. This last element forms the basis for this analysis, in the understanding that environmental protection by indigenous peoples is intimately linked to the defense of their land as well as to the recognition of their right to that land and to the conservation of the resources found there.

Palabras llave : Human rights; indigenous peoples; land and environment.