It is disappointing that deforestation in the Amazon continuing at a rapid pace. But, a recent study provides with some hope. It is that reserves of all types are providing significant Amazon forest protection, but tribal lands may be especially important to preventing region-wide deforestation, the researchers report. The February issue of the journal Conservation Biology published the study.
The new study claims that reserve areas established for Indian peoples in Brazil (map) are as effective as uninhabited nature parks in preventing burning and clear-cutting.
“Many indigenous groups are very well organized, and they are also willing to use force to defend their lands,” said Daniel Nepstad of the Woods Hole Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts, who led the study.