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Loss of Historical Lands Heightens Climate Risks for Indigenous Nations

Land rights and ancestral stewardship are crucial for Indigenous climate resilience in an era of rapid environmental change.

By Medha deb

Created on Sep 27, 2025

Land rights and ancestral stewardship are crucial for Indigenous climate resilience in an era of rapid environmental change.

For countless generations, Indigenous nations have nurtured strong relationships with their ancestral lands, developing intricate systems of land stewardship that have sustained both people and the environment. However, colonial displacements and ongoing land loss continue to place Indigenous nations at greater risk from climate change, intensifying impacts on livelihoods, culture, and biodiversity.

The Enduring Connection Between Indigenous Peoples and Land

Indigenous nations around the world manage more than a quarter of the planet’s terrestrial surface, including many of the world’s most ecologically significant regions. These lands—often rich in biodiversity and carbon—have been cared for through traditional ecological knowledge and stewardship practices passed down for millennia. However, forced removal and dispossession of these territories have profoundly altered Indigenous relationships with their homelands, creating new vulnerabilities to accelerating climate risks.

Historical Land Loss: A Root Cause of Vulnerability

The loss of ancestral lands due to colonization, broken treaties, and forced removals has relocated many Indigenous nations to new, often less resilient environments. This historical displacement barred them from adopting their time-honored strategies for adapting to local environmental change, leaving them exposed to climate extremes in territories with different resources, climates, and levels of ecological stability.

Colonial disruption: Land dispossession has often placed Indigenous communities in geographically marginal or unfamiliar environments, reducing their adaptive capacity.

Cultural fragmentation: Forced migration has sometimes fragmented traditional knowledge systems intricately tied to specific ecosystems.

Legal and political barriers: Lack of secure land tenure limits Indigenous nations’ ability to manage resources, defend against extractive activities, and meaningfully participate in environmental governance.

Climate Risks Amplified by Dispossession

When ancestral lands are lost or degraded, Indigenous nations face cascading climate risks. Vulnerabilities vary by region but often include:

Wildfire risk: Forests stewarded by Indigenous peoples generally exhibit lower deforestation rates and greater resilience, yet remaining Indigenous and community-held territories are now at the frontline of extreme wildfires fueled by climate change, deforestation, and restrictive fire policies.

Water insecurity: Relocation to areas with degraded watersheds often brings increased risk of droughts, flooding, and diminished water quality, which threaten both subsistence and spiritual practices.

Biodiversity loss: Intact ecosystems managed by Indigenous communities serve as refuges for biodiversity. As these are lost or encroached upon, species decline and ecosystem services are disrupted.

Food sovereignty: Changing landscapes and reduced access to native plant and animal species undermine food security and the practice of traditional harvesting, hunting, and medicine-making.

Case Studies: The Impact Across Regions

United States: Northern Great Plains

Tribal nations in the Northern Great Plains, having deep spiritual and practical connections to their ancestral homelands, now observe cascading climate impacts. Changes in hydrology, increased wildfire frequency, and extreme weather events have disrupted plant, animal, and water relationships foundational to local economies and ceremonies. Many tribal communities in this region still lack access to safe water supplies and essential sanitation infrastructure, exacerbating climate-driven water insecurity.

Subsistence disruption: Declines in fish, native tree species, and plant-based foods affect food sources and ceremonial practices.

Threatened ceremonies: Extreme heat and declining cottonwood populations affect religious traditions like the Sundance, which relies on shade from cottonwoods.

Infrastructure gaps: Some 5,000 Indigenous households in the region lack access to safe water and sewage facilities, a vulnerability amplified by drought.

Brazil: Escalating Wildfires on Forested Lands

Indigenous and community-held territories in Brazil have traditionally demonstrated the lowest rates of tree cover loss. Despite this, they are facing exponential increases in fire-related deforestation—a fifteen-fold rise between 2001 and 2024—driven largely by agricultural expansion, land-clearing fires, and weakened environmental protections.

Escaped fires: Agricultural fires frequently escape into Indigenous territories, threatening people and biodiversity.

Policy setbacks: Diminished enforcement of environmental laws has left forested lands vulnerable to encroachment and illegal resource extraction.

Australia: Historic Fire Seasons

Despite having the smallest overall share of Indigenous and community-held forests among the countries studied, Australia recorded the second-largest area of forest burned, primarily during the catastrophic 2019–2020 fire season. These fires, intensified by record-breaking heat and droughts due to climate change, destroyed vast tracts of bushland central to Aboriginal nations’ spiritual and material well-being.

Traditional Stewardship: A Proven Climate Solution

Studies consistently show that where Indigenous land tenure is recognized and enforced, forests not only remain more intact and biodiverse, but also more resilient to wildfires and other climate impacts. Indigenous stewardship encompasses a wide range of place-based practices, including:

Cultural burning: The revitalization of Indigenous-led fire management reduces catastrophic wildfires by mimicking natural fire regimes and maintaining landscape health.

Selective harvesting: Careful, sustainable use of resources supports ecosystem balance and long-term productivity.

Landscape monitoring: Indigenous knowledge incorporates intimate, ongoing observation of seasonal cycles and climatic changes, informing adaptive management decisions.

Transmission of ecological knowledge: Oral traditions and hands-on teaching pass vital knowledge to future generations, ensuring the continuity of sustainable practices.

Moreover, scientific analysis finds that rates of deforestation are two to three times lower in Brazil’s demarcated Indigenous territories compared to surrounding areas. Ensuring secure tenure for Indigenous nations, therefore, yields climate benefits at a far lower cost than large-scale, government-driven conservation projects.

Barriers to Climate Adaptation for Indigenous Nations

Despite evidence of their effectiveness as land stewards, Indigenous nations commonly face barriers that hinder their climate adaptation efforts, such as:

Legal uncertainty: Unclear or contested land tenure undermines the authority of Indigenous nations to manage resources and exclude harmful activities.

Limited access to funding: Adaptation funds and climate resources are often channeled through large NGOs or state governments, bypassing Indigenous communities.

Policy exclusion: Indigenous voices are marginal in many national and international climate fora, reducing the likelihood that strategies reflect their priorities and expertise.

Loss of traditional knowledge: Forced relocation and generational disruption threaten the transmission of ecological wisdom essential for resilience.

Recommendations for Addressing Climate Risks

Experts and Indigenous leaders alike emphasize that addressing the escalating climate risks faced by Indigenous nations requires restoring land rights, investing in local stewardship, and respecting traditional knowledge. Key strategies include:

Secure and uphold Indigenous land rights: Formal recognition of Indigenous territories is essential for effective, climate-adaptive stewardship.

Revitalize and support cultural burning: Incorporate traditional fire management practices into broader land management policies, reducing catastrophic fires and restoring ecological health.

Fund Indigenous-led adaptation: Ensure direct funding and capacity-building for Indigenous nations to design and implement adaptation strategies.

Expand access to technology: Make fire monitoring, early warning systems, and mapping tools readily accessible to Indigenous communities.

End deforestation and promote restoration: Stop land-clearing fires near Indigenous territories and invest in reforestation and landscape restoration led by local knowledge-holders.

Collaborate and consult: Foster partnerships where Indigenous nations have real decision-making power in land and climate governance.

Benefits of Indigenous Leadership in Climate Resilience

Benefit	Description
Forest protection	Lands under Indigenous stewardship exhibit lower deforestation rates and sustain crucial carbon stocks.
Biodiversity conservation	Indigenous-managed lands often overlap with areas of highest species richness and endemism.
Climate adaptation	Traditional knowledge and adaptive cultural practices increase community and ecosystem resilience to change.
Fire risk reduction	Cultural burning manages fuel loads and maintains natural fire regimes, reducing the intensity of wildfires.
Social and cultural continuity	Healthy land enables the continuation of language, ceremonies, and lifeways grounded in place.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Why are Indigenous nations especially vulnerable to climate change?

A: Historical removal from ancestral lands and subsequent marginalization have concentrated Indigenous nations in ecologically vulnerable areas. Disrupted connections to traditional lands and resources, coupled with insufficient legal and financial support, limit their capacity to adapt to rapid environmental change.

Q: What role do Indigenous land rights play in climate mitigation?

A: Recognized land tenure empowers Indigenous nations to defend their territories from deforestation, implement time-tested resilience strategies, and manage ecosystems sustainably—delivering climate mitigation benefits such as carbon sequestration and reduced fire risk.

Q: How does traditional knowledge contribute to ecosystem resilience?

A: Indigenous stewardship incorporates intimate knowledge of local ecosystems, including species interactions, fire cycles, and hydrology. These practices foster adaptive landscapes capable of withstanding climate variability and preserving biodiversity.

Q: What are the most urgent actions to support Indigenous climate resilience?

A: The most pressing needs include securing land rights, investing in Indigenous-led conservation and adaptation, revitalizing traditional management practices (like cultural burning), and ensuring Indigenous representation in climate policy at all levels.

Q: Are Indigenous peoples passive victims of climate change?

A: No. Indigenous nations are recognized as global leaders in climate adaptation and ecosystem stewardship. Their work not only supports community resilience but also advances solutions critical for planetary health.

Conclusion: Restoring Lands, Restoring Futures

Protecting Indigenous land rights and supporting self-determined stewardship is not just a matter of climate adaptation for Indigenous nations—it is a pathway to global ecological resilience. As the climate crisis accelerates, these strategies offer high-impact, cost-effective, and just solutions to interconnected environmental challenges. Ensuring Indigenous leadership at the forefront of climate action strengthens a shared future for people and planet.

References

Author

medha deb

Medha Deb is an editor with a master's degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Hyderabad. She believes that her qualification has helped her develop a deep understanding of language and its application in various contexts.

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