A federal prosecutor has ordered FUNAI, the Brazilian government's Indian affairs department, to draw up a plan to recognise the land of a group of Arara Indios.
The prosecutor stated that 'environmental crimes are being committed daily' on the Indians' land and that 'the government's negligence is threatening the Arara people with extinction'.
The Indians live in the heart of the Amazon in a territory called Cachoeira Seca ('Dry Rapids').
FUNAI will incur a daily fine of ªœ2,500 (US$4,700) if it does not present a plan within 30 days. It was supposed to have drawn up plans to demarcate the Cachoeira Seca territory by June 2005.