A new report by a team of Brazilian and American scientists shows that
indigenous territories are the most important barrier to Amazonian
deforestation.'
Scientists or researchers from seven institutions, including the Woods Hole Research Center in the USA and the
Amazonian Institute for Environmental Research in Brazil, used satellite
data of the Amazon rainforest gathered between 1997 and 2000. Their
report shows that deforestation was 1.7 to 20 times higher outside
indigenous reserves than inside, while forest fires were 4 to 9 times
higher outside the reserves.
The report notes that 'indigenous lands were often created in response
to frontier expansion, and many prevented deforestation completely
despite high rates of deforestation along their boundaries. The
inhibitory effect of indigenous lands on deforestation was strong after
centuries of contact with the national society and was not correlated
with indigenous population density.'
