Historic Land Titling Victory in Bolivia, Tacana II Indigenous People secure the title to protect their land

After decades of struggle, the Tacana II Madre de Dios Indigenous Peoples in Bolivia have won a landmark victory: securing legal recognition of their ancestral lands. Through sustained organizing, advocacy, and engagement with the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) independent accountability mechanism, the Tacana II Indigenous Peoples are achieving long-overdue justice.

From Struggle to Stewardship: Tacana II Secure Historic Title

In August 2025, the Tacana II Madre de Dios Indigenous community received a Tierra Comunitaria de Origen (TCO) title covering 272,379 hectares of near-pristine Amazonian forest (the size of Luxembourg and Andorra combined). This milestone marks the culmination of a land claim first submitted in 2001, one that Indigenous leaders have pursued tirelessly for over two decades.

The title is indivisible, inalienable, non-transferable, and imprescriptible, granting permanent recognition and protection for current and future generations. Situated near Madidi National Park, the territory remains highly contested due to its rich biodiversity, gold reserves, and other natural resources that have long drawn interest from extractive industries. Now, this land will be conserved and protected by the Tacana II Madre de Dios Indigenous People for many future generations to come.

This achievement honors the work of community elders who began this fight but did not live to see its resolution, while securing the homeland of younger generations who will inherit the responsibility of its protection and defense.

“This is more than a legal title — it is a restoration of dignity, rights, and hope. For the Tacana II and all Indigenous Peoples involved, this agreement affirms that perseverance, land-rights advocacy, and institutional accountability can together secure justice for past and future generations.” -Roland Mejia, Indigenous leader of the Tacana II Madre de Dios community

More Than One Victory: Protecting Both Tacanas and Uncontacted Indigenous Peoples

Protecting Indigenous land rights is a vital component of cultural preservation and human rights promotion; it is also a proven climate solution. Recognized Indigenous lands have higher forest integrity, support a greater amount of biodiversity, demonstrate more sustainable patterns of land use, and are managed according to knowledge systems and practices honed over generations.

This offers yet another reason for Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), including the IDB, to recognize that properly investing in the recognition and protection of Indigenous lands has significant benefits for both people and the planet.

The Tacana II case stands out not only for its scale and ecological importance, but also because the titled area includes land inhabited by an uncontacted Indigenous group. Evidence suggests this group has remained in voluntary isolation largely thanks to the Tacana’s protection of the forest. The new title safeguards not one, but two Indigenous Peoples — the Tacana II and the uncontacted group — along with the ecosystems they depend on. This represents a new and unique form of co-ownership in Bolivia that strengthens Indigenous stewardship and demonstrates how territorial rights can protect both cultural survival and biodiversity.

The importance of the role of Independent Accountability Mechanisms at the MBDs to Secure Remedy and Systemic Change

This case illustrates that MDB accountability mechanisms can not only deliver remedy but also enhance development outcomes. In December 2023, the Tacana II Indigenous Peoples, supported by BIC and Fundación Tierra (a Bolivian NGO), filed a complaint with the IDB’s Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (MICI). The complaint provided evidence on how the Tacana were harmed because of the IDB's failures and omissions during the project’s design and implementation, and requested that the MICI initiate a dispute resolution process to seek redress for those harms.

The resulting Tacana II MICI case represents a broader achievement made possible through the collaboration of different actors across multiple levels, including the MICI. Following a series of intense negotiation roundtables in 2024 between the MICI, the Bolivian government, the IDB, and the Tacana II (with the support of Fundación Tierra and BIC), a historic agreement was reached that secured the long-awaited land title. Months later, Bolivia’s land titling agency, INRA, honored the agreement and officially granted the title.

"Several powerful forces contributed to a successful resolution and rapid implementation of the commitments made during these negotiations. Representatives of the Tacana Indigenous peoples, INRA, the IDB, Fundacion Tierra, and BIC all joined the dialogue in good faith, quickly recognized their interdependence in solving the problem, and worked to build rapport that allowed for a shared understanding of upcoming challenges. The process was marked by mutual respect and strong commitment to the proposed methodology and format, which proved vital in addressing this complex and historic issue impacting indigenous lands.” -Gastón Ain and Martín Packmann, MICI mediators

This achievement is significant not only because it vindicates the rights of Indigenous Peoples, but also because it demonstrates how MDB accountability mechanisms can serve as powerful tools for communities to hold international financial institutions accountable, rebalance power relations, and obtain tangible remedies and reparations for harm caused by development projects.

For many communities, these accountability mechanisms are often the only channels available to make their voices heard and demand respect for their rights. This case is a powerful reminder of the role that accountability mechanisms play — and that community engagement is not an obstacle to development but its very foundation.

“This ability to bring their grievances before an independent accountability mechanism was critical to shining a spotlight on the Tacana’s demands, which had gone unanswered for more than 20 years. Through the collective efforts of all parties involved in the MICI process, the Tacana ultimately secured their land title. Today, the community enjoys the legal certainty over its ancestral territory, allowing them to pursue their aspirations and offering future generations a safer and more secure future.”  -Mario Paniagua, Fundación Tierra

As MDBs continue to finance large-scale infrastructure projects in sensitive regions such as the Amazon, integrating these lessons is essential. Encouragingly, the lessons from this case have already informed the design of a new IDB land titling project in Bolivia currently under preparation — offering hope that this experience will contribute to broader systemic change in how projects are implemented in the sector.

Creado por: Bank Infomation Center