SANTIAGO: Indigenous and tribal people in Latin America and the Caribbean are the best “guardians of their forests,” fighting deforestation, protecting biodiversity and reducing CO2 emissions, the FAO said on Thursday.

“Indigenous and tribal peoples and the forests in their territories play vital roles in global and regional climate action and in fighting poverty, hunger and malnutrition,” said the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s regional representative, Julio Berdegue.

In Brazil, Colombia and Bolivia alone, indigenous people contributed to avoiding between 42.8 and 59.7 million metric tons of CO2 emissions a year: “the equivalent of taking between nine and 12.6 million vehicles out of circulation for one year,” the FAO said in a report.

The report was based on a review of 300 studies conducted over two decades.

In those three countries, deforestation was between two and 2.8 times lower in indigenous woodlands than outside, according to one study.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2021