The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a draft bill aimed at better protecting reserved land around indigenous communities from illegal sale.
The bill would give officials the authority to help return reserved land from the private sector and non-indigenous people to indigenous communities, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told a weekly Cabinet meeting.
It would also enhance the oversight and management of traditional indigenous domains, Su said.
Photo: Screen grab from an Executive Yuan media videoconference
The bill bolsters the principles and intentions guaranteed under the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act (原住民族基本法), which was promulgated in 2005, he said.
The bill is next to be forwarded to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation and review.
The Council of Indigenous Peoples and government reports have said that 260,000 hectares in Taiwan are designated as Indigenous Reserved Land, but 10,000 hectares have been “lost.”
The bill would require that indigenous land be inherited by people with “indigenous status,” meaning that they belong to one of the 16 indigenous groups recognized by the government.
The bill would require people who obtain reserved land without a payment or rental fee, but later lost their indigenous status would have to transfer the land to indigenous people within a certain period.
It would require financial compensation to be paid when indigenous reserved land, its surface property or its natural resources are damaged, or the right to use them has been infringed on.
Taiwan’s indigenous groups lost their traditional domains during the Japanese colonial era, as all territory was administered as state land. After World War II, the “indigenous reserve land” system was established to protect livelihoods and economic development of indigenous communities, officials said.
Legally, the reserved lands are only permitted to be bought, transferred or inherited by people with indigenous status, and they must only be used according to their original designation, whether as a forest preserve or farmland, among other uses, they said.
However, over many years, there have been numerous fraudulent sales and deed transfers, they said, adding that reserved land has been lost to the indigenous communities and converted into illegal uses, such as campsites, hot spring resorts and hotels catering to tourists.
Some academics say that the real situation is far worse than government reports have implied.
Additional reporting by Jason Pan
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