Plain language summary:

This study found that Indigenous territories and protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon are responsible for more than half of the region’s forest, but only 5% of total net forest loss. The authors of the study attribute this to the weakening of environmental protections under former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and suggest that the newly installed Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva must bring back stronger protections for the Amazon, including international cooperation and financing. Indigenous leaders such as Amanda Kayabi, who works with the Xingu Seed Network, emphasize the importance of Indigenous peoples in protecting the Amazon and suggest that demarcation alone is not enough to reach the deforestation goals.