BRASILIA, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Indigenous organizations in

the Brazilian state of Para said they were not consulted by the

government before it signed a deal with multinational companies

to sell carbon offset credits to support conservation of the

Amazon ( AMZN ) rainforest in the state.

Amazon.com Inc ( AMZN ) and other firms agreed last month to

buy carbon credits valued at $180 million through the LEAF

Coalition conservation initiative, which it helped set up in

2021 with a group of companies and governments, including the

United States and United Kingdom.

At the time, Para Governor Helder Barbalho said the deal had

the participation of Indigenous peoples and traditional

communities.

But on Tuesday, 38 Indigenous and community organizations

from Para signed a public letter denouncing his failure to

consult them.

"It is unacceptable for the government of Para to take

decisions without consulting traditional communities, who are

the greatest protectors of the forests while also being the most

impacted by the lack of effective climate adaptation policies,"

they said in the letter.

"Forest peoples must be heard and consulted. Our territories

are not for sale," they said.

Alessandra Korap Munduruku, a tribal leader who was the

letter's principal author, said the role of U.S.-based companies

like Amazon ( AMZN ) and the Walmart Foundation, Walmart's ( WMT )

philanthropic organization, in the carbon credit purchase was

worrying.

"Our priority is the eviction of invaders on our reservation

lands that are threatened by miners and a grain railway," she

told Reuters by telephone. "Our leaders were never consulted on

the carbon credits. We are being sold like goods."

The governor's office did not reply to a request for

comment.

Korap Munduruku is an Indigenous teacher turned community

leader who won the prestigious Goldman environmental prize in

2023 for her efforts to convince mining companies leave

Munduruku lands.

The agreement is LEAF's first deal in the Amazon ( AMZN ), the

world's largest rainforest, which is vital to curbing climate

change because of the enormous amount of greenhouse gas its

trees absorb.

The deal foresees the purchase of up to 12 million tons of

carbon credits generated by reducing deforestation in Para

between 2023 and 2026. It was announced on Sept. 24 during New

York Climate Week.

Each of the credits represents a reduction of 1 metric ton

of carbon emissions and they are jurisdictional, so Para gets

paid for reducing deforestation across the state, including on

public lands like reservations.

Governor Barbalho said the state would only collect the

portion of the sales' proceeds needed to continue its efforts to

cut greenhouse gas emissions, while the rest would go to

Indigenous peoples and traditional communities as well as family

farms.

Para will host the UN COP30 climate summit next year, in a

move that is the centerpiece of President Luiz Inacio Lula da

Silva's bid to restore Brazil's environmental credentials after

years of soaring deforestation.