Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held discussions with representatives of Indigenous peoples and local communities in Brazil on gold mining on Indigenous land.

The UK regularly engages with the Brazilian Government, indigenous leadership, and civil society to understand the drivers and impacts of illegal gold mining and to promote human rights. In late February, His Majesty's Ambassador accompanied Sonia Guajajara, Brazil's Minister for Indigenous Peoples, to the Javari Valley to discuss these issues with the Association for Indigenous Peoples (UNIVAJA). The UK is funding a three-year initiative to reduce environmental crime in the Amazon region and supports the Challenge Fund which investigates the impact of illegal gold mining across northern Brazil.