Indigenous people and their forests in Central and South America hold and sequester massive amounts of carbon, according to a new report by the World Resources Institute and Climate Focus.Indigenous-held lands in Peru, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico absorb more than twice as much carbon as other forested lands in those countries, illustrating how private ownership and government-managed forestry are insufficient for climate safety. Despite the critical role of Indigenous people and their lands in slowing a crisis for which they are not responsible, Indigenous groups continue to be targeted and disproportionately harmed by colonial and extractive power structures that have ethnically cleansed and systematically dispossessed them of land, and are now almost completely excluded from official decision-making bodies. (Inside Climate News)
