2024 was a big year for Indigenous lands worldwide, whether through land rights gains, land grabbing, restoring spiritual connections to lands, or analyzing how these lands support biodiversity conservation.

Land and land use remained contentious as different groups fought over the use of Earth’s space—including Indigenous lands—whether it was agribusiness to feed growing populations, organized criminal groups establishing new drug trafficking routes, companies mining critical minerals used in renewable technologies, or conservationists trying to establish protected areas for biodiversity in crisis.

In the midst, Indigenous communities sought to protect their land rights all the while trying to juggle their place in conservation with their material needs and ambitions for industrial development.

This year saw investigations into land conflict such as how PepsiCo likely used palm oil from deforested land claimed by the Shipibo-Konibo people Peru. Isolated peoples like the Mashco Piro made headlines worldwide as logging activities overlapped with their lands, leading one logger to lose their FSC label. In Cambodia, Indigenous communities renounced communal land titles as they sought to try instead to sell their lands to pay back microloans.

Meanwhile, individual Indigenous leaders and organizations in Southeast Asia and Africa reconciled with nature to spearhead conservation projects that simultaneously protected biodiversity, access to their lands and their economic needs. Leaders created new Indigenous conservation areas and a global Indigenous summit also defined the just energy transition in a way that centered land rights.

Here are the investigations and stories on land that marked Mongabay’s Indigenous news coverage in 2024.

10. Brazil prepares to halt illegal mining in Munduruku land

In November, prosecutors shared with Mongabay that there was a planned start date to remove illegal gold miners from the Munduruku Indigenous Territory, where they have long decimated the Munduruku people’s health and the Amazon ecosystem with mercury contamination. The operation is now underway.

The Supreme Court and Indigenous organizations had called for the removal of the miners from the region for years, to little avail. Meanwhile, other sources say the government had to prioritize crises in other Indigenous lands like the Yanomami territory. According to a researcher, the expulsion of gold miners from another Munduruku territory, the Sawré Muybu Indigenous land, cannot begin until the president recognizes the territory.

Read the full story here.

9. Water defender fights for a sacred river during Mexico’s extreme heatwave

Mongabay travelled to the Mexican state of Sonora and the Yaqui valley while the country was experiencing this year’s deadly heat wave, drought and water shortages. We encountered Mario Luna Romero, who faces constant threats to his life for fighting to protect his community’s rights to its water in the region.

Within the Yaqui Territory are the remnants of the Yaqui River, which is sacred to the Indigenous tribe and has been drained of all its water after decades of overexploitation, unequal water distribution, and droughts.

Luna was arrested in 2014 and spent a year and 11 days in a maximum-security prison; meanwhile, other colleagues have been harassed by government officials or killed by criminals.

Learn about Mario’s efforts to defend his territory’s sacred river here.

8. Indigenous rights violations at another Nepal hydropower project

In eastern Nepal, another hydropower came under the spotlight, and Leonardo DiCaprio took note. A conflict is brewing between Sangrila Urja Pvt. Ltd., the hydropower company, and yak herders who say the company violated the law by lying in government reports.

The tug-of-war between the hydropower company and the Bhote Singsa communities is taking place in the Lungbasamba landscape, a biocultural heritage home to endangered flora and fauna that communities have preserved for generations. Nepal is experiencing a hydropower construction boom to meet its increasing energy demands, and this Himalayan district, with its land conflict, is no exception.

Mongabay was able to verify most of the communities’ claims and confirm fabricated information in the environmental impact assessment, forged signatures during a public hearing, and a lack of proper consultation with the community. Community leaders and the company are now in court.

The company director refutes the allegations and evidence and says it awaits the resumption of its activities once a lawsuit filed by civil society organizations confirms they can move forward with the project.

See the full investigation and our findings here.

7. Mining company in eastern DRC grabs lands under the shadow of conflict

An analysis by Mongabay highlighted several inconsistencies that violate the law in the process of a company in the DRC receiving mining and exploration permits.

In Walikale, a territory located in the eastern DRC, Indigenous Twa people accuse the Canadian and South African-owned mining company Alphamin Bisie Mining SA of obtaining mining rights without consulting all the communities affected by the company’s activities. For years, the Indigenous communities of Banamwesi and Motondo have been unsuccessfully calling on the mining company to recognize that it is occupying part of their community forests.

In light of the conflict devasting the eastern DRC and government officials’ silence in addressing the communities’ situation, inhabitants and civil society representatives say the conflict is being used as a cover for the violations of the law taking place around them.

In an exchange with Mongabay, Alphamin Bisie denied that the communities were affected and said they would clarify these matters with the communities.

See what we found in these permits here.

6. African Commission rules in favor of Batwa land rights

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights determined that the eviction of thousands of Batwa from Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the 1970s was a human rights violation. Human rights groups hailed this as a “historic win” with potential repercussions across Africa. Months later, however, questions remain about whether and how the government will implement the commission’s 19 recommendations to address the situation.

The return of Batwa to their ancestral lands in the park, paying them compensation, and a public apology for all the Batwa suffered are among the key recommendations the Batwa and sources highlighted. Implementation would be challenging, but necessary from a human rights standpoint, they said, while breaking down the process.

Researchers say there lacks evidence that modern-day Batwa are custodians of the forest and environmentalists highlight the need to build community-centered conservation projects that help Batwa live sustainably on their land in the park or find a balance that works for both the Batwa and park officials.

Learn about the full story here.

5. Indigenous land rights and the Keo Seima REDD+

Mongabay released a two-part series that raised some questions about the efficacity of the REDD+ framework in Cambodia in protecting Indigenous rights.

In part one, the Cambodian Ministry of Environment blocked Indigenous communities from receiving ownership over thousands of hectares of customary farmlands and culturally significant forests in the Keo Seima REDD+ project zone. The Wildlife Conservation Society, which works with the ministry to administer the project, did not disclose these land disputes caused by the project’s activities to standard setter Verra, and its auditors failed to identify these issues.

Indigenous peoples in the REDD+ project face arrests, imprisonment, crop destruction, and property confiscation as a result of unclear boundaries and insufficient land allocated to their communities.

In part two, a protected forest established by a carbon credit project in Cambodia and encompassing the customary lands of several Indigenous Bunong communities has been destroyed largely by outsiders, while Indigenous community patrollers say they lack adequate law enforcement support from the REDD+ project.

Government rangers supported by WCS are arresting and imprisoning Indigenous peoples – often the poorest and most vulnerable – for clearing land for farming amid ongoing conflicts and confusion over project boundaries. An Indigenous community has been blocked from receiving land ownership by the Keo Seima REDD+ project proponent and pressured by government officials to withdraw land claims without free, prior, and informed consent, community leaders say.

Read part one here and part two here.

See our reporting on the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project here and its reinstatement here.

4. Do Indigenous peoples really conserve 80% of the world’s biodiversity?

In 2024, a commentary piece in Nature made waves, receiving both heavy praise and condemnation. Authors of the piece argued that the much-cited claim that Indigenous peoples protect 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity is not only baseless, but wrong. They found no evidence for the statistic.

Although scientists and Indigenous advocates agree the statistic is under-researched, not all agree with the authors’ final conclusion, especially as they did not provide evidence that suggests the statistic is indeed wrong.

Speaking to Mongabay, scientists share their diverse ideas and insights on calculating the percentage of Earth’s biodiversity on Indigenous lands, including the complexities of such research and what to avoid in the future to maintain scientific rigor.

Some Indigenous advocates found the commentary unethical as it made a conclusion without enough evidence and undermined Indigenous guardianship of biodiversity ahead of the COP16 U.N. biodiversity conference. Others said the continued use of the stat comes from assumptions about Indigenous peoples that are too narrow and essentialist about their relationship with nature.

Read our analysis of the statistic here.

3. Illegal cattle boom in Indigenous territory in deadliest year for Guajajara

A yearlong Mongabay investigation revealed that large plots in the Arariboia Indigenous Territory in Brazil have been used for ranching amid a record-high number of killings of the region’s Indigenous Guajajara inhabitants.

Our investigation found a clear rise in environmental crimes in the region in mid-2023, including an unlicensed airstrip and illegal deforestation on the banks of the Buriticupu River, key to the Guajajara people’s livelihood. With four Guajajara people killed and three others surviving attempts on their lives, 2023 marked the deadliest year for Indigenous people in Arariboia in seven years, equating to the number of killings in 2016, 2008, and 2007.

Our findings show a pattern of targeted killings of Indigenous Guajajara amid the expansion of illegal cattle ranching and logging in and around Arariboia: we tracked several dozen illegal or suspicious activities; the hotspot killing areas coincide with the bulk of the tracked activities and with police operations curbing illegal logging in Arariboia’s surroundings.

There’s no evidence that the owners of the businesses were responsible for the killings.

See the full investigation and all the data here.

2. False claims of U.N. backing see Indigenous people cede forest rights

Several companies registered in Latin American countries claiming to have U.N. endorsement have persuaded Indigenous communities to hand over the economic rights to their forests for decades to come, a Mongabay investigation has found.

The companies share commercial interests across various jurisdictions, and have not been able to demonstrate experience in sustainable finance projects. Indigenous communities in Peru, Bolivia and Panama were promised jobs and local development projects in exchange for putting on the market more than 9.5 million hectares (23.5 million acres) of forests.

According to community sources, the claims of U.N. backing were the main selling point for agreeing to put their forests on the market. All three U.N. entities cited by the companies have rejected any involvement. Mongabay has found that the methodology employed for valuing natural capital has not been used before; there are no public details regarding its scientific and technical basis, and the company that created the methodology refused to share information about it.

Experts have raised concerns that a lack of regulation in the fast-growing sustainable finance industry is allowing abuses against communities that act as guardians for critical ecosystems.

See how the companies got a hold of the forests here.

1. Increased organized crime and narco airstrips impact Indigenous communities

Organized crime and new drug routes are increasing in Latin America. With the help of an artificial intelligence visual search algorithm, Mongabay and Earth Genome detected 67 clandestine airstrips used for drug transport in the Peruvian regions of Ucayali, Huánuco and Pasco.

We identified 45 clandestine airstrips in the rainforest in Peru’s Ucayali department. Thirty-one of these airstrips are located in Atalaya province, and of these, 26 are in or near Indigenous communities and reserves.

These airstrips and the associated expansion of illicit coca cultivation began to increase in Atalaya 10 years ago, mirroring a rise in violence against Ucayali’s Indigenous communities and their leaders. Atalaya has become one of the most violent provinces in the Amazon.

We identified at least three illegal airstrips in Kakataibo North and South Indigenous Reserve. In addition, six illegal airfields are affecting at least three reserves specifically designated for Indigenous peoples living in isolation and initial contact (PIACI). Although these territories should be off-limits by law, they are not being protected in practice.

In these regions, people avoided discussing the issue with us openly as they struggle to survive amid an economy overshadowed by drug trafficking.

Read the full series here.

Bonus: Brazil’s Lula approves 13 Indigenous lands in two years

Since President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office almost two years ago, he has officially recognized 13 Indigenous territories. However, this has frustrated the expectations of traditional communities, who believed this would be accomplished in Lula’s first 100 days in office.

Demarcation processes in Brazil depend on the willingness of the federal administration and often take more than thirty years to complete. For traditional communities, this long wait is accompanied by violence and prejudice. After blaming the marco temporal (temporal mark) for the delay, President Lula promised to accelerate the demarcation of new territories in the next two years.

Demarcating Indigenous lands is key to Lula’s goal of bringing the deforestation rate in the Brazilian Amazon to zero by 2030, since those territories are the best-preserved parts of the rainforest. It would also help consolidate Brazil’s role in the fight for climate change.

Read the full story here.

Featured video of 2024: The Time Of Water: An Alliance To Protect The Amazon Rainforest

A transboundary Indigenous peoples’ alliance has been working in Ecuador and Peru to protect the Amazon Basin in the face of climate change impacts.

The collaboration of Indigenous peoples and civil society organizations from the two countries seeks to permanently protect more than 35 million hectares (86.5 million acres) across the two countries, an area in the Amazon home to 600,000 people of more than 30 nationalities and Indigenous peoples historically united by the rivers that interconnect their territories and their lives.

“Our concept is: Amazonia — a living being, which has a spiritual connection with the Indigenous world,” says the Indigenous leader Nampichkai. “Either we unite in the face of the climate crisis’ formidable challenge that is ruining our world and the entire planet, or we expire.”

The Sacred Headwaters Alliance brings together thirty Indigenous nations of the upper Amazon in Ecuador and Peru, who are self-organizing to defend a forest devastated by unchecked extraction that is rapidly consuming their territory. Their leaders are on high alert due to the devastating effects of climate change on nature, which they perceive as a living being with a spiritual entity.

The Sacred Headwaters Alliance is focusing on climate mitigation and adaptation, as well as on teaching younger generations to resist the ongoing destruction of the Amazon.

This documentary was produced thanks to the support of the Pulitzer Center and OpenDemocracy.

Watch the full video here.

Banner image: An elephant with her mahout at the Elephant Valley Project, a sanctuary and ecotourism venture which employs 44 Bunong residents of nearby REDD+ villates. Image by John Cannon/Mongabay.

Last year’s top 10 Indigenous news stories, according to Indigenous leaders:

2023’s top 10 Indigenous news stories (commentary)

Latest Mongabay podcast episode: ‘These stories deserve to be told’: Shining a light on secretive fisheries managers. Listen here:

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