In a joint effort to safeguard the biological and cultural diversity of the Mesoamerican region, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Re:wild, and the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMPB) announced the “More Trees, Fewer Cows” initiative during Climate Week New York. This unprecedented alliance aims to raise awareness and take strong action against illegal cattle ranching activities in Indigenous territories and protected areas.

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Rainforest Foundation Norway (RfN) are working with Indigenous People and local organizations to launch the first-ever direct access fund for Indigenous Peoples and local communities to protect forests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

As the world commemorates the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9th, the Wildlife Conservation Society has issued the following statement by Sushil Raj, Executive Director of the WCS Rights and Communities Program, and Dawa Yangi Sherpa, Social Safeguards Technical Specialist in the WCS Rights & Communities Program:

It will be imperative that recognition of human rights is not just a day of conversations and sharing of good practices but also creates momentum for Parties to include contributions from Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

A team of researchers from the University of Queensland, WCS, and other organizations, conducting a first-of-its-kind analysis, found that Indigenous Peoples’ lands are critical to the survival of thousands of species of Threatened and Endangered wildlife.

Indigenous Peoples have ownership, use and management rights over  at least a quarter of the world’s land surface according to a new study published this week in the journal Nature Sustainability.