The world’s rainforests support millions of people, including Indigenous Peoples who have sustained a reciprocal relationship with their natural environment for generations. Many of the rainforests standing today owe their survival to Indigenous stewardship.

Indigenous communities have long resisted the pressures of deforestation to defend their lands and ways of life. When Indigenous Peoples lose their forests, they lose homes, food systems, medicines, sacred places, livelihoods, languages, cultural traditions, and a central part of their identities. Often, they lose their lives.

We support rights-based conservation, which recognizes the rights, knowledge, and leadership of Indigenous communities who have maintained the rainforest ecosystems within their territories for the benefit of people and nature. Indigenous stewardship impacts us all, safeguarding forests that preserve biodiversity and balance the global climate. Lasting conservation depends on upholding their land, resource, and self-determination rights.

On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, and every day, we recognize the Earth’s traditional stewards and today’s defenders of the forests that benefit us all.

Many of our local partners work closely with Indigenous Peoples to secure their land tenure and management rights while conserving critical habitats for biodiversity. We invited some of these partners to share their insight and expertise, and we are honored to share their voices below:

“Justice, human rights, and effective conservation”

“Protecting Indigenous territorial rights is not only a matter of justice and human rights, it is also one of the most effective ways to conserve the Amazon,” said Fábio Ribeiro, President of the Observatory of Isolated Indigenous Peoples. “Amazonian Indigenous Peoples have an ancestral tradition that is the result of a millennia-long process in which people and forests have evolved together. Indigenous Peoples have demonstrated over generations that it is possible to sustain both biodiversity and human well-being. The fact that so many Indigenous territories still maintain standing forests is itself the strongest evidence of the value of these knowledge systems.”

“Indigenous knowledge teaches us that conservation should be grounded in the realities of each territory,” Fábio continued. “Conservation strategies have to be built locally. Each program must reflect peoples’ unique way of occupying and using their territory, their seasonal movements based on the availability of natural resources, and the specific pressures they face.”

Rainforest Trust is supporting OPI’s work to secure land rights for Indigenous Peoples in Isolation, and their team conducts non-intrusive research in using ethnology, ecology, and traditional knowledge to document human presence without making contact.

“We are the protagonists of conservation”

“Indigenous Peoples are not simply project partners—we are the protagonists of conservation,” said Dineva Kayabi of the Kayabi People, who serves as Treasurer Coordinator of the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB). “It is important to invest directly in Indigenous organizations, strengthen the participation of women, youth, and Indigenous leaders, and ensure that we are the ones defining the priorities for our own territories. The best support is built on respect, trust, and genuine listening.”

“There can be no conservation without protected territories and respect for our rights,” Dineva added. “When our territories are officially recognized, protected, and respected, we are able to keep forests standing, protect rivers, conserve biodiversity, and preserve our culture.”

In partnership with COAIB, we helped support efforts to secure official designation and titles for the Baixo Rio Negro and Rio Caurés Indigenous Lands, cumulatively covering 1.9 million acres.

“Our commitment to future generations”

“Conservation is embedded in our culture,” said Quennie Ciba, a Mandaya woman and administrative assistant for the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development, our partner in supporting land rights through the creation of Indigenous Peoples and Community Conserved Areas and Territories. “Our oral traditions, stories and songs are full of gratitude and promises of taking care of the next generation by securing for them a better environment.”

“Indigenous Peoples play a vital role in biodiversity conservation. Our Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices, developed and passed down by our ancestors, emphasize respect for our natural environments because we consider these as our Magbabaya’s (God’s) gift for us to nurture and preserve.”

Traditions have sustained the rainforests of Mindanao Island in the Philippines, where the Mandaya Peoples harvest natural resources for livelihoods and subsistence.

“We allow the forest time to rest and recover from the areas where resources have been harvested. This strengthens the forest ecosystem, and it reflects our respect for nature and our commitment to protecting it for future generations.”

“Traditions and beliefs protect the river”

“Indigenous Peoples have held on to unique traditions and beliefs that offer protection to the Tano River and its aquatic life,” said Emmanuel Amoah, founder and director of Threatened Species Conservation Alliance, our partner in protecting the Critically Endangered West African Slender-snouted Crocodile in Ghana. “The upper Tano River is the only known location where the crocodile is benefiting from strict traditional protection. Cultural beliefs revere it as a child of the river deity, and people treat it with honour and respect.”

“Instead of trying to replace traditional ecological beliefs and practices, modern conservation should rather come in to complement them. For instance, prohibition of consumption of aquatic species may not extend protection to the riparian vegetation, which is equally important in protecting the Tano River ecosystem. Our project worked with local communities to enhance riparian vegetation protection, which, in the long term, protects the river that is embedded in local tradition.”

“The only way for communities and nature to thrive” 

Neither people nor nature can thrive when they are separated, said Dominique Bikaba, a member of the Bashi tribe and founder of Strong Roots Congo, an NGO in the Democratic Republic of Congo that aligns human rights with conservation and our partner in supporting community forests that secure local land rights. “If you asked about the value of a forestland, a modern conservationist may count the species present to estimate a scientific or monetary value. Indigenous Peoples would begin with their sacred sites, valuing where their ancestors are buried, and then explain how various species link to their lives, customs, and cultural identity.”

“Indigenous knowledge goes beyond species and ecosystems to encompass the connections and interactions between humans, forests, and land. Recognizing the land rights of communities customarily linked to the land is the only way for both communities and nature to thrive together.”

We are truly grateful for our partners’ contributions and their tireless dedication to supporting Indigenous rights and conservation. Learn more about our collaborations with Indigenous Peoples and local communities.