Last week, Brazil’s Munduruku people celebrated a hard-fought and emblematic victory upholding embattled Indigenous land rights.

On Wednesday, the Brazilian Justice Minister issued a long-awaited declaratory order moving the Munduruku territory of Sawré Muybu towards definitive demarcation.

While the Amazon and other South American biomes continue to burn, this news provides a reprieve, demonstrating how the Munduruku’s determined struggle for their ancestral land offers a key solution to today’s crisis.

The demarcation of Indigenous territories is a critical long-term solution to both the fires in the Amazon and the climate crisis. Indigenous lands in the Amazon are the best-protected areas, with communities on the front lines defending them against numerous threats, including roads, mining, and industrial agriculture.

Indigenous peoples are at the forefront of the global movement for climate justice, and this victory is not only a win for Indigenous peoples but for the entire world.