A larger portion of the Amazon Rainforest might be under protection than official records indicate, according to a new study published in the journal One Earth. A team of international researchers found that more than 40% of land across the nine Amazonian countries is under some form of conservation management, significantly higher than the 28% reported in official records. To arrive at this number, the authors looked beyond traditional protected areas such as national parks and nature reserves. They gathered information from scientific papers, legal documents and local knowledge to include land managed by Indigenous peoples, community-based natural resource management areas, regions covered by payment for ecosystem services programs and even sustainably managed farms and logging areas. The researchers say this method provides a more complete picture of conservation efforts than current tracking systems and will help others assess the effectiveness of different types of conservation governance systems. “Knowing who is governing these lands and how, as well as recognizing their visions related to conservation, is the first step to collectively planning for a fair and feasible future for our planet,” Siyu Qin, a lead author of the study, told Mongabay. Women from the Sinangoe Indigenous Guard in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Alexandra Narváez, third from left, led the creation of the Indigenous Guard in 2017. Her community went on win a major legal victory, preventing mining in 52 forest concessions. Image courtesy of the Goldman Environmental Prize. The study emphasizes the role of Indigenous peoples and local communities in conservation.…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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