Indigenous Peoples are more protective of forests and biodiversity, study finds

Cortes Currents · May 18, 2026 · 18m

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - A new UBC led study of 111 peer-reviewed papers found that forests and biodiversity are better, or at least equally, protected if they are managed by Indigenous Peoples. Between 2005 and 2012, vegetation loss in native areas of the Brazilian Amazon was 17 times lower. In Australia, 60% of the nation’s 1,574 threatened species were found on Indigenous lands. In the United States, Indigenous lands harbour more mature trees and higher tree volume. Close to two-thirds of the articles noted that Indigenous Peoples were themselves threatened, and some offered…