By Angelo Villagomez, Humna Sharif, Alex Verdeja Perez, Margaret Cooney, & Andrew Sonntag
Tribal and Indigenous communities have been stewards of land, waters, and wildlife since time immemorial. Increasingly, the Biden administration and conservation organizations across the country are coming to understand the importance of Indigenous-led conservation approaches. A report published in 2021 found that although Indigenous peoples make up just 5 percent of the global population, they are protecting 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity. An earlier analysis from 2018 found they manage or have tenure rights over a quarter of the world’s land surface—including about 40 percent of all terrestrial protected areas and ecologically intact landscapes.
-- CLICK STORY TO READ MORE