A proteção do patrimônio cultural das comunidades quilombolas pela Defensoria Pública da União: atuação do Grupo de Trabalho Comunidades Tradicionais e o nexo com a justiça climática

Abstract

This article examines the role of the Brazilian Federal Public Defender's Office (Defensoria Pública da União – DPU) in protecting the cultural heritage of quilombola communities, with emphasis on the work carried out by the Traditional Communities Working Group (GTCT) and on actions promoted in quilombola communities across different regions of Brazil. It analyzes the constitutional and infra-constitutional legal framework that safeguards quilombola cultural rights, particularly Articles 215 and 216 of the 1988 Brazilian Constitution, Article 68 of the Transitional Constitutional Provisions Act, Decree No. 4,887/2003, and ILO Convention No. 169. The study investigates how the DPU contributes to safeguarding the cultural expressions, territories, and ways of life of these communities through both judicial and extrajudicial means. The article places this issue within the perspective of climate justice, demonstrating that climate change disproportionately affects quilombola communities by threatening their territories, traditional food systems, and intangible cultural heritage, and that protecting this heritage simultaneously constitutes a climate adaptation strategy. It concludes that the DPU plays a strategic role in enforcing these rights, although it faces structural challenges that limit the scope of its intervention.