June 16, 2026
Interviews across six continents show cultural survival is essential to nature
ARLINGTON, Va. (June 16, 2026) – A new global study from Conservation International shows how Indigenous cultural practices, governance systems and worldviews deliver measurable climate and biodiversity benefits across Earth’s most vital lands — from storing vast reserves of climate-warming carbon to protecting critical wildlife habitats.
Drawing on interviews with Indigenous people from 43 communities across six continents, the study describes the many ways they care for their lands using traditional practices that are grounded in intimate observations of nature and multi-generational connections to place. The findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, show how culture is woven into conservation: The same traditions that preserve languages, rituals and identities also protect lands, waters and wildlife.
These often unwritten rules, enforced through community consensus and oral tradition, lead to quantifiable results: Indigenous and community lands and territories store more than a third of Earth’s “irrecoverable carbon” — that’s carbon, which if emitted into the atmosphere, could not be restored in time to prevent climate breakdown. And 60 percent of terrestrial mammals have more than 10 percent of their ranges within Indigenous lands, according to previous research.
“Indigenous lands protect the climate and wildlife at a scale few other places do, often storing more carbon and sustaining more species than government-protected areas,” said Sushma Shrestha, Conservation International’s director of Indigenous science and the study’s lead author. “Our study looks behind the data to see how Indigenous cultural practices and knowledge contribute directly to those outcomes. We found that the high carbon storage and biodiversity on these lands is no accident; it exists because of continuous Indigenous presence, not despite it.”
Among the study’s key findings:
- 100% of Indigenous Peoples interviewed observed climate and weather-related changes on their lands. Drought and extreme weather are the most common impacts.
- 96% said their communities have set aside lands or waters for sacred or cultural use; those areas double as habitats for wildlife and old-growth forests.
- 61% reported direct impacts from extractive industries such as mining, logging, commercial agriculture and infrastructure development.
The report details how Indigenous stewardship — including community patrols, “set-aside” areas and land-use rules — delivers climate and biodiversity benefits. It also shows how Indigenous resistance to industrial expansion contributes directly to global climate goals.
Below are just a few examples of place-based Indigenous practices with positive impacts on climate and biodiversity:
- In Ecuador, Kichwa communities restrict hunting of female tapirs, jaguars and other animals to prevent population decline.
- In Papua New Guinea, the Waka tribe enforces taboos against using kunai grass to thatch roofs at certain times of year so that it can regenerate.
- In Kenya, Pokot elders meet in a traditional assembly known as the Kokwo to decide land use, guided by stories and songs that pass ecological knowledge to younger generations.
- In Indonesia, Batak Toba families forbid clearing land along rivers to prevent erosion and protect freshwater sources.
- In Brazil, the Mamoadate People protect wild fruit and palm trees that are vital to local wildlife.
- In Russia, Yukaghir communities prohibit excessive noise and disturbance near rivers during salmon spawning season.
- In Mexico, Zapotec communities designate committees to monitor the land; a brigade is also appointed to fight wildfires.
Integrating Indigenous knowledge in climate and biodiversity policy
Despite Indigenous Peoples’ proven role in sustaining healthy ecosystems, their lands face rising threats. According to the study, between 2018 and 2024 Indigenous lands lost 2 billion metric tons of irrecoverable carbon — roughly equivalent to the annual emissions from 1.7 billion gas-powered cars — due to mining, agriculture, fires and other pressures. Approximately 61 percent of Indigenous People interviewed reported direct impacts from extractive industries and infrastructure development.
While there is a growing global consensus of the need to allocate funding for Indigenous-led conservation, international financing rarely reaches Indigenous organizations directly.
“Indigenous knowledge is the foundation of some of the world’s most effective conservation efforts, yet for too long it’s been overlooked, dismissed or treated as a footnote,” said Johnson Cerda, who leads Conservation International’s engagement with Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and co-authored the study. “With this study, Indigenous People raise our voices and share our experiences. Our hope is that global and national policymakers invest in this knowledge and integrate these practices into their actions. At a time when the climate and biodiversity crises are accelerating, listening to Indigenous communities is about survival.”
Previous research has found that Indigenous Peoples and local communities customarily manage at least half of the world’s lands, yet their rights are formally recognized for only 19 percent of their territories. Without formal land rights, many Indigenous communities are unable to invest in land management or protect against land grabs and other incursions.
“To protect our knowledge, there is an urgent need to secure our rights and lands,” said Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Conservation International Senior Advisor and the President of the Indigenous Women and Peoples Association of Chad. “Our ancestors left us knowledge systems that have carried us safely through centuries of change. They remain our strongest defense against a changing climate and are increasingly recognized by scientific research as the most effective ways to protect nature and adapt to extreme weather.”
About the study:
Published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, this research was grounded in engagement with Indigenous experts and communities spanning Africa, Asia, the Americas and the Pacific. Five members of the Conservation International research team also identify as Indigenous.
The complementary report, available in English, Spanish and French, provides case studies and recommendations for policymakers and funders.
Quote bank:
Below are select quotes from Indigenous interviewees. While responses were anonymized to protect experts’ identities and remove potential bias, each quote includes the interviewee’s community and country of origin. Interviews were conducted in the participants’ languages and translated to English by professional translators.
“The aims of the rules are to ensure that the community survives; we are prohibited from destroying the function of the land.”
-Batok Toba, Indonesia
“What you call land usage management is already planned from origin because our grandparents know the land and manage it according to the law of origin. So, there’s a plan for it, and that’s why every time people talk about land-use management, we wonder why rearrange what’s already been arranged previously. They know what there is in their land, the delimitations, the sacred lands, the rivers, the hunting grounds, fishing areas. All of that is clear.”
-Uitoto, Colombia
“With traditional practices, there is this kind of moving from one place to another searching for grazing lands— this by itself is a mechanism for controlling the impacts of climate change.”
-Maasai, Tanzania
“Some traditional knowledge is no longer applicable in some areas. The knowledge is much more applicable in areas where the environment is still better.”
-Kui/Kuy, Cambodia
“Little signs of things like observing ants to see when it would rain but people cannot rely on traditional knowledge anymore because traditional knowledge was based on a pattern, something that you saw every year. Now that that pattern is gone.”
-Wapichan People, Guyana
The French Ministry of Economy and Finance and the French Facility for the Global Environment (FFEM) supported this research within the framework of the Our Future Forests – Vital Reserves project.
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About Conservation International: Conservation International protects nature for the benefit of humanity. Through science, policy, fieldwork and finance, we spotlight and secure the most important places in nature for the climate, for biodiversity and for people. With offices in 30 countries and projects in more than 100 countries, Conservation International partners with governments, companies, civil society, Indigenous peoples and local communities to help people and nature thrive together. Go to Conservation.org for more, and follow our work on Conservation News, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.