Indigenous people do know best how to keep the land’s ecosystem sustainable in order to reduce emissions. Image source: Shutterstock (#290150396)
Plans to cut carbon emissions also include vast sparsely populated areas where indigenous people live. These areas are still covered by forests and grasslands whose preservation is a proven and cost-effective way of reducing emissions. Indigenous people have an enormous knowledge about the land they live on. A study of 80 forest areas in 10 countries (south Asia, east Africa and Latin America) found that community-owned and managed forests delivered greater carbon storage as when local communites have no legal rights or only very few. If indigenous people fully control their land, this will give the strongest possible incentive to ensure sustainability of those ecosystems.
The Guardian
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