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Communities are increasingly using tools like GFW to gather evidence of deforestation and degradation on their lands and take legal action.  

New research shows that forests managed by Indigenous people in the Amazon are net carbon sinks, while forests outside Indigenous lands are a carbon source.

Nearly 500 million people around the world live in and depend on forests, making these groups key to sustainable management of forests. Unfortunately, many local and indigenous communities often struggle with visibility and proper government acknowledgement of this role. Data from LandMark, recently added to Global Forest Watch (GFW), can help bring the role of […]

Raul Padilla Calderon is an IT consultant working with the Oaxacan government on Biodiversity matters, and Floriberto Vásquez Ruiz works within the Oaxacan state government as the Undersecretary for Climate Change, Natural Resources and Biodiversity. In Oaxaca, Mexico, 78% of the land is controlled by local communities— that’s over 9,375,000 hectares. Yet, although these communities […]

The IPCC’s Special Report on Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Food Security, and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Terrestrial Ecosystems has just been released.  One thing you don’t see in the title is any reference to “forests” or “deforestation.” As in much of the summary of the report itself, forests are swept into the broader […]

This is the Gran Chaco. A vast expanse of dry forest, cactus stands and palm savannahs—a stretch of rural Paraguay considered far away from just about everywhere. Despite its remoteness and low population, the Chaco represents both home and livelihood for those who reside there. But the area has become increasingly threatened in the last 20 years as trees are felled in favor of ranches producing beef for export.This is the village of Chaidi, home to the Ayoreo Totobiegosode, an indigenous people