NEW YORK (United States): Indigenous territories across the world contain some of the planet’s most intact forests, yet millions of hectares of these lands are under growing threat from oil, gas, mining and logging concessions, according to a global assessment released during international climate talks. The findings underline a stark contrast between Indigenous-managed lands, which show consistently low deforestation, and neighboring areas opened to industrial exploitation.
Indigenous Peoples and local communities represent less than 5 percent of the global population but steward close to one billion hectares of forest worldwide. These territories include more than half of the Earth’s remaining intact forests and around 43 percent of global biodiversity hot-spots. They also store vast amounts of carbon critical to slowing climate change. Despite this, governments continue to allocate large portions of Indigenous lands to extractive industries in the name of economic growth and energy transition, according to a recent report by the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC). The report is titled “Indigenous Territories and Local Communities on the Frontlines.”
In the Amazon basin alone, oil and gas concessions overlap with approximately 31 million hectares of Indigenous territory, while mining concessions cover an additional 9.8 million hectares. In the Congo Basin, around 38 percent of community forest lands are affected by oil and gas blocks, including areas of carbon-rich peatlands that play a crucial role in regulating global emissions. Indonesia faces similar pressures, with about 18 percent of Indigenous lands overlapping with timber concessions, while in Mesoamerica roughly 19 million hectares, nearly 17 percent of Indigenous territory, are subject to mining and related extractive claims.
These pressures have translated into significant human costs. Between 2012 and 2024, at least 1,692 environmental and land defenders were killed or disappeared in countries covered by the assessment. Of these cases, 208 were linked to extractive industries such as mining and oil development, while 131 were connected to logging activities. Indigenous leaders describe this reality as a paradox in which communities protecting forests of global importance face the highest levels of violence.
At the same time, the report documents concrete examples where Indigenous governance has delivered strong conservation outcomes. In Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve, Indigenous and community-managed forest concessions recorded only 1.5 percent forest loss between 2014 and 2024. By contrast, surrounding areas managed by the state or private interests experienced forest loss of about 11 percent over the same period. In Colombia, 25 officially recognized Indigenous Territorial Entities have maintained more than 99 percent of their forest cover intact, despite increasing deforestation elsewhere in the country.
Other cases highlight ongoing resistance to industrial expansion. In Indonesia, the O’Hongana Manyawa people continue to oppose nickel mining projects on their ancestral lands, citing threats to forests, water sources and cultural survival. In Panama, the Guna people have combined autonomous governance, conservation and small-scale tourism to protect coastal and forest ecosystems while sustaining local livelihoods.
The assessment also points to recent political shifts. Late last year, leaders from forest-rich countries adopted the Brazzaville Declaration, committing to secure Indigenous land rights, uphold free, prior and informed consent, channel financing directly to communities and recognize Indigenous knowledge systems as central to climate and biodiversity strategies.
However, major funding gaps remain. Although billions of dollars have been pledged globally for forest protection, only about 7.6 percent of that finance currently reaches Indigenous Peoples and local communities directly. Indigenous organizations argue that without direct and predictable funding, proven community-led conservation models cannot be scaled.
As governments pursue global targets such as protecting 30 percent of land and sea by 2030, Indigenous leaders warn that repeating exclusionary conservation and development models will undermine both human rights and environmental goals. The report concludes that recognizing Indigenous territories as living systems governed by customary law is not only a matter of justice, but one of the most effective strategies available to safeguard forests and confront the climate crisis.
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