It’s easy to see why Indigenous People are regarded as the guardians of biodiversity. They courageously resist the destructive plans pursued by governments and corporations interested only in extracting wealth from the Earth to line their pockets. <\/p>\n\n
Indigenous Peoples are the stewards of their lands which play a key role in tackling the climate crisis. In Brazil, studies show<\/a> that between 2005 and 2012, deforestation rates were 17 times lower in Indigenous territories than unprotected areas of the Amazon. Forests play a crucial role in storing carbon underground, and protecting them means protecting us from further escalation of the climate crisis.<\/p>\n\n From 2020 until 2024, South Africans heard the calls from the amaMpondo community and others to protect the Wild Coast, which houses pristine and precious biodiversity, from the seismic blasting that fossil fuel company Shell had planned. The whole country rallied around them. Protests erupted from beaches along South Africa’s entire coastline to the streets of capital cities. Indigenous People of South Africa fought Shell in the courts<\/a>. And they won. <\/p>\n\n