A/HRC/45/38 claims brought under the Recognition of Forest Rights Act of 2006 have been processed. 101 That said, only 5.28 million hectares of land have been recognized as communally owned and, on 13 February 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that around 1 million households whose land claims had been rejected were to be evicted. That order was subsequently suspended. In Chile, the Mapuche people have successfully claimed nearly 125,000 hectares under the Indigenous Lands and Waters Fund, all of which, however, have been acquired at market value. Yet in instances where the Mapuche lack legal title, their traditional territories are excluded.102 45. In Australia, since the 1992 High Court decision in Mabo and others v. Queensland, the Native Title Act governs the recognition of native title rights. Native title has been determined to exist over approximately 38.2 per cent of the Australian land mass. 103 The Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 gives the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council the mandate to provide for the development of land rights for indigenous peoples in New South Wales, in conjunction with a network of local Aboriginal land councils. 104 Australia reports that the focus for some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is now shifting from resolving claims to the question of how best to use their land for social, cultural and economic development. 105 In 2016, the President of the United States of America established Bears Ears National Monument, a 1.35 million acre parcel that is “profoundly sacred” to several Native American tribes. A commission of five tribes was set up to guide federal agencies on management of the land, an act seen as an innovative furthering of indigenous peoples’ self-determination and cultural rights.106 The fate of the monument is now uncertain, as the Administration of the current President seeks to reduce its size by 85 per cent,107 over the objections of the tribes, who have filed a lawsuit. 108 C. Demarcation and delimitation of land 46. States engage in the demarcation and delimitation of indigenous land and the recognition of collective ownership through legalization and plans. Costa Rica, for example, has the National Plan for Recovery of the Indigenous Territories of Costa Rica 2016– 2022,109 and in Guyana initiatives such as the Amerindian Land Titling Project have been launched following consultations on a 2006 law guaranteeing Amerindian land rights. 110 47. Several States in South America, such as the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, have developed legal, administrative and policy measures for the special protection of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation or in initial contact, although adequate implementation is still lacking. 111 For example, in Brazil, there is a constitutional duty to demarcate lands traditionally occupied by indigenous peoples in accordance with their traditions and forms of social organization (Constitution, art. 231). One success story is that of the Javari Valley, an area of over 8,544,448 hectares and the second-largest in Brazil to have been demarcated, with the greatest concentration of isolated peoples in the world.112 However, despite good examples in the South American region, concerning regressive steps are now taking place particularly in Brazil, putting the survival of indigenous peoples in isolation and in initial contact in serious risk. 113 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 14 A/HRC/WG.6/27/IND/1, para. 104. David Nathaniel Berger, ed., The Indigenous World 2019 (Copenhagen, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, 2019), pp. 151–152. Submission by Australia. Submission by the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council. Submission by Australia. See https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/12/28/proclamation-establishmentbears-ears-national-monument. See https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-modifying-bearsears-national-monument/. Native American Rights Fund, see www.narf.org/cases/bears-ears/. A/HRC/WG.6/33/CRI/1, para. 37. www.guyanareddfund.org/images/stories/Signed%20ALT%20Project%20Document.pdf. Second submission by the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin. Submission by Beto Marubo. Second submission by the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin.