Biodiversity — the vast web of life that sustains our planet — is in crisis. Species are disappearing at unprecedented rates, ecosystems are collapsing, and climate change is driving food insecurity worldwide. Yet Indigenous lands, where biodiversity thrives, continue to be deforested, degraded, and encroached on by industries such as mining and logging that prioritize maximizing profits over the planet’s health.

Indigenous communities make up just 6% of the global population, yet they’re responsible for safeguarding more than 80% of Earth’s remaining biodiversity. That’s not a coincidence — it’s the result of centuries of traditional knowledge, sustainable land management, and deep cultural ties to the land.

But despite their critical role in protecting the planet, Indigenous communities receive less than 1% of global climate finance. If we’re serious about addressing the climate and biodiversity crises, that must change.

Indigenous Stewardship: The Frontline of Conservation

Indigenous communities have long practiced sustainable farming, reforestation, and ecosystem management techniques that match nature’s own natural rhythms. Their lands store nearly a quarter of the world’s carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere where it would only intensify global warming. Research consistently shows that deforestation rates in Indigenous-managed territories are significantly lower than in non-Indigenous areas, from the Amazon to the Mayan Biosphere Reserve.

Despite this, Indigenous communities are among the most vulnerable to climate change’s effects, despite contributing the least to its causes. The injustice is glaring. Rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, and biodiversity loss threaten their food security, livelihoods, and very cultural survival.

The Climate Crisis’ Key Funding Gap

The takeaway is clear: protecting Indigenous land is essential to protecting the planet. But global conservation and climate efforts routinely sideline or overlook Indigenous leadership and insights. Even when funds are allocated for Indigenous land protection, they rarely reach Indigenous organizations directly.

Consider this:

• Only 17% of climate-related funding that’s supposed to support Indigenous land rights includes Indigenous organizations in decision-making.
• Of the $1.7 billion pledged in 2021 to support Indigenous land tenure and forest protection, just 7% is actually reaching Indigenous groups.
• Instead of directly supporting Indigenous-led initiatives, much of the money tends to favor large NGOs or government projects, many of which in turn neglect to center the effectiveness of Indigenous conservation strategies.

This isn’t just a funding failure — it’s a missed opportunity for effective, community-driven climate action that puts the resilience of our planet’s health first and foremost. 

Why Funding Indigenous-Led Efforts Matters

When Indigenous communities have the resources to manage their lands, everyone benefits. Direct financing ensures they can:

• Secure legal land rights, preventing deforestation and land grabs by extractive industries.
• Strengthen conservation efforts with community-driven projects based on traditional knowledge.
• Enhance food security through climate-resilient agricultural practices.
• Protect biodiversity in ways that respect cultural traditions and prioritize long-term sustainability.

Unlike some conventional conservation models — where governments or organizations declare land “protected” while displacing the people who have lived there for generations — Indigenous-led conservation is based on reciprocity and sustainability. It also recognizes that protecting the environment must go hand in hand with protecting human rights.

One organization working to close this gap is the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a UN agency dedicated to ending rural poverty and promoting food security worldwide. Recognizing the importance of Indigenous leadership in conservation and climate resilience, IFAD established the Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility (IPAF) — a direct funding mechanism for Indigenous-led projects. IPAF provides small grants to Indigenous communities to fight for measures including land tenure rights initiatives (ensuring Indigenous Peoples can legally protect territories that are under threat); traditional agricultural practices that enhance biodiversity and food security; and forest conservation and restoration efforts, reinforcing Indigenous stewardship of critical ecosystems.

Beyond funding, IFAD also amplifies Indigenous voices on the global stage. Since 2011, it has hosted the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum (IPFI), a biannual event that brings together Indigenous leaders, development organizations, and policymakers to discuss climate action, food security, Indigenous rights, and more. The 2025 IPFI, set to take place February 10 and 11, will center around the theme: Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination: a pathway for food security and sovereignty, highlighting the importance of Indigenous Peoples’ right to determine decisions about policies affecting their lives, communities, and homes. 

By amplifying Indigenous leaders and voices, IFAD is pushing for a model of conservation that respects traditional Indigenous knowledge and ensures that the people who protect biodiversity best have the resources they need to keep it up.

A Turning Point for Indigenous Leadership on the World Stage?

Encouragingly, there are signs that momentum is growing behind Indigenous voices at the highest levels. At COP16, the 2024 UN biodiversity summit in Colombia, a historic win was achieved: a permanent Subsidiary Body was established to make sure Indigenous perspectives are always a part of global biodiversity policy discussions. This builds on the success of the 2022 "30x30" agreement, in which 190 countries pledged to protect 30% of the world's land and ocean biodiversity by 2030, explicitly recognizing Indigenous stewardship as key to achieving this goal.

However, it wasn’t all good news out of COP16. Amidst excruciating gridlock, crucial financing issues were left unresolved, with country delegates pushing the debate on where and how to allocate biodiversity funding down the road to another session at the end of February 2025. A lot’s at stake — without clear commitments on funding sources and direct allocation to  Indigenous communities, these pledges risk becoming empty promises. 

Investing in Our Planet’s Protectors

Indigenous-led conservation isn’t just an impulse based on justice — it’s one of the smartest, most effective strategies we have to combat climate change and biodiversity loss. When we invest in Indigenous communities, we’re investing in a future where tropical forests remain healthy, carbon stays out of the atmosphere, food systems are sustainable and resilient, and biodiversity sustained for generations to come.

The survival of the world’s forests — and the biodiversity within them — hinges on Indigenous stewardship. It’s time to fund Indigenous-led conservation at the scale the crisis demands. This means that policymakers, governments, donors, and world leaders must shift towards embracing conservation models that put Indigenous communities at the heart of their plans and efforts, ensuring they have direct access to climate funds and Indigenous knowledge is centered in climate policy solutions — not as an afterthought, but as the foundation.

What Needs to Happen Next? 

We are at a tipping point. Within decades, millions of plant and animal species could be lost due to biodiversity decline. Climate change is already reshaping food security and global stability. It’s clear that Indigenous communities hold the key to unlocking future solutions, and open forums like IFAD’s Indigenous Peoples’ Forum provide examples of how crucial it will be to prioritize this kind of leadership.

Supporting Indigenous-led conservation isn’t just an environmental necessity — it’s a matter of justice, equity, and safeguarding our shared future. It’s time to listen and act. It’s time to fund the protectors of our planet so that the Earth’s biodiversity and ecosystems have a chance to thrive for generations to come.