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Importance of Indigenous Peoples’ lands for the conservation of Intact Forest Landscapes
Author(s) -
Fa Julia E,
Watson James EM,
Leiper Ian,
Potapov Peter,
Evans Tom D,
Burgess Neil D,
Molnár Zsolt,
FernándezLlamazares Álvaro,
Duncan Tom,
Wang Stephanie,
Austin Beau J,
Jonas Harry,
Robinson Cathy J,
Malmer Pernilla,
Zander Kerstin K,
Jackson Micha V,
Ellis Erle,
Brondizio Eduardo S,
Garnett Stephen T
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1002/fee.2148
Subject(s) - indigenous , deforestation (computer science) , clearing , agroforestry , climate change , biodiversity , geography , face (sociological concept) , environmental resource management , environmental protection , political science , ecology , business , environmental science , sociology , biology , social science , finance , computer science , programming language
Intact Forest Landscapes ( IFL s) are critical strongholds for the environmental services that they provide, not least for their role in climate protection. On the basis of information about the distributions of IFL s and Indigenous Peoples’ lands, we examined the importance of these areas for conserving the world's remaining intact forests. We determined that at least 36% of IFL s are within Indigenous Peoples’ lands, making these areas crucial to the mitigation action needed to avoid catastrophic climate change. We also provide evidence that IFL loss rates have been considerably lower on Indigenous Peoples’ lands than on other lands, although these forests are still vulnerable to clearing and other threats. World governments must recognize Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including land tenure rights, to ensure that Indigenous Peoples play active roles in decision‐making processes that affect IFL s on their lands. Such recognition is critical given the urgent need to reduce deforestation rates in the face of escalating climate change and global biodiversity loss.