FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean

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Facts and figures
Indigenous peoples physically occupy 404 million hectares in Latin America

That is about one fifth of the total area of the region

Of the 404 million hectares, 237 million (almost 60%) are in the Amazon Basin. That is an area larger than France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Spain combined

Indigenous and tribal peoples are involved in the communal governance of between 320 and 380 million hectares of forests

About 35% of Latin America's forests are in areas occupied by indigenous groups.

More than 80% of the area occupied by indigenous peoples is covered with forests.

Almost half (45%) of the remaining intact forests (large undegraded forest areas) in the Amazon Basin are in indigenous territories.

Between 2006 and 2011, the indigenous territories in the Peruvian Amazon reduced deforestation twice as much as protected areas with similar ecological conditions and accessibility

Indigenous and tribal territories have lower average deforestation rates that other forests in practically every Latin American country.

Many indigenous territories prevent deforestation as well or better than other protected areas.

The forests of the indigenous and tribal peoples’ territories store about 34,000 million metric tons of carbon

The forests in indigenous and tribal territories contain almost 30% of the carbon stored in Latin America's forests and 14% of the carbon in the tropical forests worldwide

They store more carbon than all the forests in Indonesia or the Democratic Republic of Congo, the two countries with the most tropical forest after Brazil.

While Amazon Basin indigenous territories lost less than 0.3% of the carbon in their forests between 2003 and 2016, non-indigenous protected areas lost 0.6%, and other areas that were neither indigenous territories nor protected areas lost 3.6%. As a result, even though indigenous territories cover 28% of the Amazon Basin, they only generated 2.6% of the region's (gross) carbon emissions

Between 2003 and 2016 the vegetation in indigenous territories in the Amazon Basin captured almost as much carbon (90%) as emitted from these territories due to deforestation or forest degradation. In other words, these territories produced almost no net carbon emissions.

Governments have formally recognized indigenous and tribal peoples’ collective property over about 277 million hectares

Of that more than 200 million hectares have forest.

Approximately 11.5 million hectares of land have been recognized as reserves for indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and in initial contact.

Deforestation rates are lower in indigenous and tribal territories where governments have formally recognized collective land rights.

Indigenous territories that received full collective property rights between 1982 and 2016 in Brazil had 66% lower deforestation rates.

Between 2000 and 2012 deforestation rates in titled indigenous territories in the Bolivian, Brazilian, and Colombian Amazon were only between one third and one half of those in other forests that had similar ecological characteristics and accessibility to markets.

As a result, the titled indigenous territories in the Bolivian, Brazilian, and Colombian Amazon avoided between 42.8 and 59.7 million metric tons (MtC) of CO2 emissions each year during that period; the equivalent of taking between 9 and 12.6 million vehicles out of circulation for one year.

Indigenous territories are key to the protection of biodiversity

Brazil's indigenous territories have more species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians than in all the country's protected areas outside these territories.

Two-thirds of Bolivia's vertebrate species and 60% of its plant species can be found in the Tacana and Leco de Apolo indigenous territories. Government recognition of land and forest rights.

Between 2016 and 2018, deforestation rose 150% in the indigenous territories in Brazil

As a result of deforestation and forest fragmentation the area of large undisturbed forest in indigenous territories fell by 20% in Bolivia, 30% in Honduras, 42% in Nicaragua, and 59% in Paraguay between 2000 and 2016.

Frequently asked questions

What does the evidence say regarding the role that indigenous and tribal peoples play in the fight against climate change and the conservation of forests and biodiversity?

May 30, 2024, 14:47 PM
Title : What does the evidence say regarding the role that indigenous and tribal peoples play in the fight against climate change and the conservation of forests and biodiversity?
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The territories of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Latin America store more carbon than all the forests in Indonesia or the Democratic Republic of Congo, the two countries with the most tropical forest after Brazil. Brazil (Walker et al., 2014). Indigenous and tribal peoples' territories in Latin America store about 34,000 million metric tons of carbon (MtC) (Saatchi et al., 2011; Walker et al., 2014; Frechette et al., 2018), or 14% of all the carbon stored in forests in the tropics worldwide. Even though indigenous territories cover 28% of the Amazon Basin, they generated only 2.6% of the region's (gross) carbon emissions (Walker et al., 2020).

If the carbon emissions from these territories' forests were to rise to the levels of other similar forests in the region it could greatly set back efforts to mitigate climate change. In many Latin American countries these forests are equally or more important for biodiversity conservation than protected areas. In Brazil alone, indigenous territories have more species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians than in all the country's protected areas outside these territories (Schuster et al., 2019).

Indigenous territorial rights, payments for environmental services, and community forestry have all been shown to effectively reduce deforestation and forest degradation in indigenous territories. At the current price paid by the Green Carbon Fund of $5 per ton of CO2-equivalent of reduced emissions, investing in the territories of Indigenous and tribal communities could save $570 million US per year in carbon emissions, as well as having many other social and environmental benefits (author's elaboration). Invested funds could be used to improve indigenous and tribal tenure security, pay for environmental services, support community forestry, and revitalize indigenous cultures and traditional knowledge.

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Pueblos indígenas y tribales y la Gobernanza de los Bosques
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Ricardo Rivera

Communicator

FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean

Av. Dag Hammarskjöld #3241, Vitacura, Santiago de Chile