Indigenous Communities and Biodiversity

Indigenous peoples often play a vital role in preserving biodiversity, something that is often forgotten. CIFOR’s new study, Unseen Sentinels: local monitoring and control in conservation’s blind spots, is significant because it reveals how Indigenous peoples are protecting vast natural areas. Co-author, Senior Associate at CIFOR and scientist based at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Douglas Sheil said effective local protection is undermined, not because these local systems are invisible, but “because no one recognizes what they see.”