The study, Indigenous Peoples’ Territories and Local Communities on the Frontlines, maps out the growing footprint of extractive industries across four of the world’s largest tropical forest regions: the Amazon, the Congo Basin, Mesoamerica, and Indonesia. These territories are home to around 35 million IPLC members and cover nearly one billion hectares of forest.
The overlap between extractive activity and community land is widespread and accelerating. In the Congo Basin, 42% of community forests are affected by mining claims. In the Amazon, oil and gas permits extend across 31 million hectares of IPLC territories. Mesoamerica and Indonesia show similar trends, with community lands intersecting with active logging and mining zones. These encroachments directly undermine forest integrity, biodiversity, and climate mitigation efforts.
In places like the Yavarí-Tapiche Corridor—one of the most carbon-dense forest areas on the planet—logging, mining, and infrastructure proposals are pushing into lands inhabited by uncontacted Indigenous groups. In Indonesia’s North Maluku province, industrial mining linked to battery production now visibly encircles Indigenous lands when viewed from satellite data.
Despite playing a central role in keeping forests standing, IPLCs continue to receive only a marginal share of global climate finance. Many lack legal land recognition, access to direct funding, or a seat at decision-making tables where infrastructure or extractive projects are approved.
The report draws a clear line: Indigenous governance is one of the most effective tools available for safeguarding forests. In Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve, community-managed areas lost just 1.5% of tree cover over a decade—far below national averages. In Colombia, Indigenous territories pursuing legal recognition have maintained 99% forest cover across more than a third of the Amazon region. In Indonesia, legal reforms have returned hundreds of hectares to communities practicing traditional forest management.
These examples show that when IPLCs are empowered with legal rights, financing, and self-determination, deforestation slows dramatically. The cost-benefit is measurable. Forests managed by IPLCs are among the most resilient in the world—offering high returns on emissions reduction, biodiversity protection, and long-term land health.
However, global markets and investors continue to finance infrastructure, agriculture, and extractive projects that run directly counter to these outcomes. The report calls for an end to financing land conversion, displacement, and carbon-intensive development—and a pivot toward direct investment in community governance systems already proven to work.
For industries tied to land use—energy, mining, agriculture, finance, and infrastructure—the shift is clear. IPLC land rights are no longer a reputational issue—they’re a material risk. Carbon market participation, biodiversity compliance, and decarbonization targets increasingly depend on alignment with Indigenous rights.
