Indigenous People Get Help to Protect the World’s Forests

Governments, philanthropists, and companies are injecting money into a global fund destined for Indigenous communities from the Congo Basin to the Andes, in an effort to positively impact the fight against global warming.

The Community Land Rights and Conservation Finance Initiative (CLARIFI) constitutes the “missing link” between donors who wish to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and the curb of climate change, and the forest groups skilled to do exactly that, explains Solange Bandiaky-Badji, coordinator of the NGO Rights and Resources Initiative, which is co-leading CLARIFI with the Campaign for Nature group.

Through CLARIFI, indigenous locals will be able to map their lands, have their ownership officially recognized, and develop management and conservation plans led by Indigenous communities. The global fund – whose target is yet to be revealed – will first grant $25 million from the Bezos Earth Fund, established by Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos, to communities in the tropical Andes mountains and the Congo Basin. Some $10 billion would be required by 2030 to secure Indigenous people’s rights and traditional territories, which would make it possible to protect at least 30% of the planet in the fight against climate change.