In 'Tree-mendous' Health

FORESTS ON INDIGENOUS AMAZONIAN LANDS REDUCE DISEASE

The Amazon Rainforest is crucial to the health of our planet, is a biodiversity hotspot, produces a significant portion of the world's oxygen and acts as a major carbon sink. Now a new study led by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has revealed that forests on Indigenous lands in the Amazon region are reducing the spread of 27 diseases.

Analysis gathered from 1,733 municipalities representing more than 74% of the Amazon found that those living on Indigenous lands closest to healthy forests, face less risk from respiratory diseases and illnesses.

Researchers examined 20 years of data on 27 health issues - 21 fire-related and six zoonotic (spread from animals to people) or vector-borne (spread from insects to people) diseases - across eight Amazonian countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela and French Guiana. The study reveals that lands managed by Indigenous Peoples consistently decrease the occurrence of disease.

The findings, released at the onset of forest fire season in the region and in advance of the climate negotiations (COP30) in Belem, Brazil, are the latest in a growing body of evidence showing that Indigenous land rights are critical to tackling climate change, biodiversity loss and the spread of disease and that forest fires, create immediate and widespread health hazards.

"Indigenous forests in the Amazon bring health benefits to millions," said Paula Prist, Senior Programme Coordinator of the Forests and Grasslands Programme of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

"We have long known that the rainforest is home to medicinal plants and animals that have cured countless illnesses. This study offers new evidence that forests themselves are a balm for fire-related threats to people's lungs and hearts, to illnesses like Chagas, malaria and spotted fevers. Ensuring Indigenous communities have strong rights over their lands is the best way to keep forests and their health benefits intact.".