A
Wounaan
tribe
woman
rows
a
canoe
in
Puerta
Lara,
Darién
Province,
Panama
on
April
11,
2015.
Eric
Lafforgue
/
Art
in
All
of
Us
/
Corbis
via
Getty
Images
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and
solutions.
In
Panama,
forest
cover
on
Indigenous
lands
has
remained
stable
at
almost
double
the
rate
of
protected
areas
—
including
government
parks
—
due
in
great
part
to
deeply-ingrained
cultural
values,
a
new
study
led
by
researchers
from
McGill
University
has
found.
The
findings
challenge
a
longstanding
assumption
about
conservation:
that
in
order
to
protect
biodiversity,
people
must
be
kept
out.
“Local
land
use
emerges
from
peoples’
worldviews
and
values
regarding
nature,”
the
authors
of
the
findings
wrote.
“[D]eforestation
and
disturbance
in
Indigenous
lands
exhibit
a
low
density,
spatial
concentration
on
forest
edges,
and
temporal
stability,
explaining
forest
cover
stability.
According
to
participatory
mapping,
obtaining
food
from
agriculture
mainly
occurs
where
deforestation
and
disturbance
are
more
concentrated.
In
contrast,
other
instrumental
(i.e.,
gathering
food
and
household
materials)
and
relational
values
(e.g.,
sacred
sites)
are
more
dispersed
in
forests.”
In
their
exploration
of
cultural
drivers
and
ecological
patterns,
the
research
team
combined
an
analysis
of
20
years
of
satellite
data
with
collaborative
mapping
sessions
with
eight
members
of
Emberá
communities
from
eastern
Panama.
“We’d
print
satellite
images
and
ask
men
and
women
to
point
out
the
areas
they
use
and
value,”
said
lead
author
of
the
study
Camilo
Alejo,
who
earned
a
Ph.D.
in
Biology
from
McGill,
in
a
press
release
from
the
university.
“That
included
places
where
they
farm,
hunt
or
gather,
and
also
where
they
hold
ceremonies
or
avoid
for
spiritual
reasons.”
[embedded content]
The
participatory
mapping
showed
that
when
forest
areas
were
considered
culturally
and
spiritually
significant,
they
tended
to
remain
intact.
“Many
Indigenous
communities
integrate
farming,
spirituality
and
conservation
in
how
they
use
the
land,”
Alejo
explained.
“Our
findings
show
that
this
diverse
set
of
values
aligns
with
areas
where
forests
have
remained
stable,
suggesting
a
strong
connection
between
cultural
practices
and
long-term
forest
stewardship.”
Sacred
sites,
areas
with
medicinal
plants
and
traditional
gathering
and
hunting
grounds
were
spread
throughout
the
forest,
supporting
sustainable
use.
“Our
maps
suggest
that
forests
remain
intact
not
just
because
they’re
remote,
but
because
of
how
people
value
them,”
Alejo
emphasized.
“These
aren’t
just
undisturbed
forests;
they’re
consistently
cared
for.”
The
study
called
attention
to
a
crucial
policy
issue:
Some
Indigenous
communities
—
particularly
those
in
remote
areas
such
as
the
Darién
Gap
—
do
not
have
formal
titles
to
their
land,
though
their
stewardship
has
clearly
preserved
forests.
“Paradoxically,
in
many
legal
frameworks,
you
have
to
exploit
land
to
claim
title,”
Alejo
said.
“That
incentivizes
deforestation,
which
undermines
exactly
the
kinds
of
practices
that
are
keeping
these
ecosystems
intact.”
The
authors
are
calling
for
land
title
policy
reforms
across
Latin
America
so
that
Indigenous
stewardship
will
be
recognized
as
a
legitimate,
proven
form
of
land
use.
They
hope
the
findings
will
lead
to
new
frameworks
that
combine
conservation,
cultural
heritage
and
food
security.
“This
study
shows
how
much
we
can
learn
from
Indigenous
cosmovisions:
holistic
worldviews
that
connect
nature,
culture
and
wellbeing,”
Alejo
said.
“There’s
real
potential
to
rethink
how
we
manage
land,
not
just
in
Panama,
but
globally.”
The
study,
“Diverse
values
regarding
nature
are
related
to
stable
forests:
the
case
of
Indigenous
lands
in
Panama,”
was
published
in
the
journal
Ecology
and
Society.
“By
weaving
scales
and
perspectives,
our
results
illustrate
that
diverse
values
regarding
nature
framed
by
Indigenous
worldviews
can
beget
stability
to
forest
cover,
contributing
to
Indigenous
peoples’
quality
of
life,
climate
change
mitigation,
and
biodiversity
conservation,”
the
authors
of
the
findings
wrote.
“To
align
these
contributions
with
global
climate
and
biodiversity
targets,
it
is
crucial
to
disarticulate
land
ownership
from
deforestation,
grant
formal
titles
to
Indigenous
lands,
and
foster
equitable
incentives
to
Indigenous
peoples.”
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