The Governor's Council of the Remanso-Chorrobocón Indigenous Reserve, in Guaviare, issued Resolution 009 of 2025, "by which an area withdrawal from the Amazon Forest Reserve established by Law 2 of 1959 is approved, as requested by the Remanso Chorrobocón Reserve community under filing number 94001786-20241020, and other provisions are enacted."

Within the framework of the aforementioned Resolution, the indigenous reserve approved the definitive subtraction of 1,043.37 hectares from the Amazon Forest Reserve, established by Law 2 of 1959, for the execution of a gold extraction project in its territory, located in the municipality of Inírida, department of Guainía.

This decision was based on ILO Convention 169 and Article 5 of Decree 1275 of 2024, which assigns environmental competencies in territorial environmental planning, as well as in the establishment of regulatory, management, and governance mechanisms for the preservation, conservation, restoration, protection, care, use, and management of natural resources. These competencies fall upon:

• Traditional indigenous authorities
• Authorities of indigenous territories
• Indigenous councils and other similar self-governing structures within their reserves
• Indigenous territories
• Areas occupied by indigenous peoples

Subsequently, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS), in response to the same request, issued Resolution 0078 of January 23, 2025, denying the substraction. This resolution, titled "By which the request for the definitive withdrawal of an area from the Amazon Forest Reserve is resolved, and other determinations are adopted, within the framework of file SRF 673," established the decision to maintain the protection of the requested area.

Additionally, MADS issued a statement on social media, stating that: "Decree 1275 does not grant reserves the authority to carry out withdrawals, and decisions of this nature go against its spirit and scope."

The above demonstrates that Decree 1275 of 2024, by granting environmental competencies to indigenous territories, has led to conflicts of overlapping competencies among the various environmental authorities within the National Environmental System.

In fact, this Decree is currently being challenged before the First Section of the Council of State and before the Constitutional Court. The plaintiffs argue that Decree 1275 of 2024 violates Article 330 of the Constitution and that the authority to issue it, granted under Transitory Article 56 of the Constitution, has already been exhausted.

If you have any questions regarding Decree 1275 of 2024, the environmental competencies of indigenous authorities, or the impact on your project, work, or activity, do not hesitate to contact the Environment and Sustainable Business team at Brigard Urrutia.