In a defining moment for the rights of Indigenous peoples in Peru, 37 land titles were secured in the Amazon in record time, from June 2023 to May 2024. This is not only a remarkable land rights victory for the region, but it also marks a significant step towards addressing climate change, reclaiming Indigenous peoples’ sovereignty and rights, and defending territories against external threats. Land titles have proven to be the most effective way to protect Indigenous peoples’ land from deforestation, with titled land experiencing a 66% decrease in deforestation. Legal land ownership allows Indigenous communities to hold illegal loggers and land-grabbers accountable. Additionally, these titled lands act as a buffer zone, protecting adjacent Indigenous territories from invasion. Deforestation is a global concern, but for the Indigenous communities of Peru, it is also about preserving their heritage, culture, and very existence. The process of securing land titles ranges from slow and bureaucratic to extremely dangerous. In Peru, more than 30 Indigenous leaders have been murdered over the past two decades for seeking titles for their territories and the recognition of their ancestral lands. A partnership between AIDESEP, the Rainforest Foundation US, and the Peruvian government has enabled an innovative, low-cost, high-impact model to expedite community land titling in record time. Image courtesy of Sacha Cine/Rainforest Foundation US. The Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP) has been working since the 1980s to raise funds and petition the Peruvian government for the recognition and titling of our lands.…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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