Bolivia: Contribution of Indigenous people to fighting climate change hanging by a thread
February 20, 2020 Iokiñe Rodríguez and Mirna Inturias Americas, Story
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Earth’s forests oxygenate the atmosphere and store vast quantities of planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO₂ ) . But research suggests that the health of these vast ecosystems in large part depends on the work of indigenous people.
Indigenous territories and protected areas cover 52% of the Amazon forest and store 58% of its carbon. A recent study found that these areas had the lowest net loss of carbon between 2003 and 2016, with 90% of net emissions coming from outside these protected lands.
Tree ferns in the Amboró National Park, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Photo used under a Creative Commons license.
“Where indigenous people live, [in Central America] you will find the best preserved natural resources,” declared the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2018. A study published that year found that “indigenous people are crucial for the conservation of a quarter of the land of the Earth”.
In the forest territories that indigenous people maintain deforestation is lower, more carbon is stored and less emitted, biodiversity is better conserved, and resources are more sustainably and fairly managed.
More:
https://towardfreedom.org/story/bolivia-contribution-of-indigenous-people-to-fighting-climate-change-hanging-by-a-thread/
