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  • Indigenous Peoples' Lands a...
    Sze, Jocelyne S.; Childs, Dylan Z.; Carrasco, L. Roman; Fernández‐Llamazares, Álvaro; Garnett, Stephen T.; Edwards, David P.

    Global change biology, January 2024, 2024-Jan, 2024-01-00, 20240101, Volume: 30, Issue: 1
    Journal Article

    Indigenous Peoples are long‐term custodians of their lands, but only recently are their contributions to conservation starting to be recognized in biodiversity policy and practice. Tropical forest loss and degradation are lower in Indigenous lands than unprotected areas, yet the role of Indigenous Peoples' Lands (IPL) in biodiversity conservation has not been properly assessed from regional to global scales. Using species distribution ranges of 11,872 tropical forest‐dependent vertebrates to create area of habitat maps, we identified the overlap of these species ranges with IPL and then compared values inside and outside of IPL for species richness, extinction vulnerability, and range‐size rarity. Of assessed vertebrates, at least 76.8% had range overlaps with IPL, on average overlapping ~25% of their ranges; at least 120 species were found only within IPL. Species richness within IPL was highest in South America, while IPL in Southeast Asia had highest extinction vulnerability, and IPL in Dominica and New Caledonia were important for range‐size rarity. Most countries in the Americas had higher species richness within IPL than outside, whereas most countries in Asia had lower extinction vulnerability scores inside IPL and more countries in Africa and Asia had slightly higher range‐size rarity in IPL. Our findings suggest that IPL provide critical support for tropical forest‐dependent vertebrates, highlighting the need for greater inclusion of Indigenous Peoples in conservation target‐setting and program implementation, and stronger upholding of Indigenous Peoples' rights in conservation policy. We identified areas of habitat of tropical forest‐dependent mammals, amphibians, birds, and reptiles across the tropics and examine the extent of overlap with Indigenous Peoples' Lands (IPL). We also compared values inside and outside of IPL for species richness, extinction vulnerability, and range‐size rarity at the country level. We found that at least 76.8% of vertebrate species had ranges overlapping IPL, with 120 species found only within IPL. Compared to the 10 km buffer outside IPL, 51% of countries had higher species richness, 58% had lower extinction vulnerability, and 40% had higher range‐size rarity inside IPL.