From the article: Indigenous communities hold rights to more than half of the world’s land, but only a measly 10% is officially recognized and protected. Despite their persistent struggle for justice, political will has been lacking in many countries. According to a new study, we should all care about this struggle.

A team of researchers showed that indigenous communities are good stewards of nature and whenever they are given the right to manage land, they tend to make it better for the natural environment.

Researchers at the University of Colorado, Boulder have found that indigenous communities in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest who have formal recognition of their land rights reduce deforestation and increase forest cover. This supports previous studies suggesting that land rights can mitigate climate change and reduce biodiversity loss and suggests that granting native populations stewardship could be an important tool for environmental protection.

“Our study adds an important piece to the growing body of evidence that tenure in Indigenous lands has often improved forest outcomes—including now in the Atlantic Forest, which has experienced high deforestation pressures over a long period of time,” Rayna Benzeev, lead author of the study and researcher, said in a statement.