A/49/415/Add.1 English Page 11 "(3) Promote public investment in their territories and monitor their proper implementation; "(4) Collect and distribute their funds; "(5) Oversee the conservation of natural resources; "(6) Coordinate the programmes and projects promoted by the various communities in their territory; "(7) Collaborate in the maintenance of public order within their territory in accordance with the instructions and provisions of the national Government; "(8) Represent the territories before the national Government and before other entities to which they belong; and "(9) Other functions stipulated by the Constitution and the laws. "The exploitation of the natural resources in the indigenous territories shall be carried out without endangering the cultural, social and economic integrity of the indigenous communities. The Government shall encourage the participation of representatives of the respective communities in decisions adopted with regard to such exploitation". 53. Article 246 of the National Constitution grants indigenous peoples jurisdictional functions, which must be exercised in accordance with their practices and customs, provided that they are not contrary to the Constitution and the law: "The authorities of the indigenous peoples may exercise their jurisdictional functions within their own territory in accordance with their own rules and procedures, provided that they are not contrary to the Constitution and the laws of the Republic. The forms of coordination between this special jurisdiction and the national judicial system shall be established by law." 54. In the opinion of the Constitutional Court: "The situation of the members of indigenous communities differs from that of other territorial entities in that the former enjoy autonomy within their territories not only with respect to administrative, budgetary and financial matters, as may be the case in the departments, districts and towns, but also in the political and legal spheres, to the extent allowed by law; this means that they are able to elect their own authorities, which exercise jurisdictional functions within their territory. This is nothing less than the recognition and partial fulfilment of the principle of participatory and pluralistic democracy and respect for the ethnic and cultural diversity of the Colombian nation." /...