The importance of Indigenous Peoples’ lands for the conservation of terrestrial vertebrates

Abstract

1Indigenous Peoples' lands cover over one-quarter of the Earth's surface, a significant 2 proportion of which is still free from industrial-level human impacts. As a result, Indigenous 3 Peoples' lands are crucial for the long-term persistence of Earth's biodiversity and ecosystem 4 services. Yet, information on species composition within Indigenous Peoples' lands globally 5 remains unknown. Here, we provide the first comprehensive analysis of terrestrial vertebrate 6 composition across mapped Indigenous lands by using distribution range data for 20,328 7 IUCN-assessed mammal, bird and amphibian species. We estimate that 12,521 species (62%) 8 have ≥ 10% of their ranges in Indigenous Peoples' lands, and 3,314 species (16%) have >half 9 of their ranges within these lands. For threatened species assessed, 840 (18% of all threatened 1 0 mammals, birds and amphibians) occur in Indigenous Peoples' lands. We also find that 3,989 1 1 species (of which 418 are threatened) have

Textured species range maps enhance interdisciplinary science capacity across scales

“…In Canada, Brazil, and Australia, vertebrate species richness was high est on Indigenous managed lands as compared with pro tected areas and non protected areas (Schuster et al 2019). Recent work highlights the contribution of Indigenous land management to habitat and species conservation through their stewardship practices (eg Garnett et al 2018;O'Bryan et al 2021). Yet challenges remain in Indigenous communities, as governmental, social, and economic factors have inhibited biocultural engagement with IPLC that worsen environmental outcomes.…”