The world’s 370 million indigenous people are only 5 per cent of the total population but they officially hold 18 per cent of the land and lay claim to far more. Their home areas across 70 countries from the Arctic to the South Pacific include many of the planet’s biodiversity hotspots. Unsurprisingly, indigenous peoples have been stout opponents of development imposed from beyond their communities. They defend their lands against illegal encroachments and destructive exploitation, from mega-dams across their rivers to logging and mining in their forests. According to the campaigning group Global Witness, 185 people across 16 countries were killed defending their land, forests and rivers against destructive industries in 2018 alone, many of them from indigenous communities. A report by the World Resources Institute last year identified securing the land rights of indigenous people and other local communities in various regions as a low-cost way to counter global deforestation and climate change. Credit: Seeker
