Forest peoples are on the climate fight’s frontlines – so why aren’t we listening to them?

Indigenous people are on the frontlines of the climate fight, battling floods, fires and droughts. But those who live in the world’s tropical forests often get scant protection from the threats they face. As world leaders descend on Belém, the ‘gateway to the Amazon’, for the Cop30 climate summit, we asked 100 Indigenous people: What is life really like for them today?

We put the same ten questions to Indigenous people – mostly from Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Peru, and Venezuela – to assess their quality of life and the threats to their lives and lands. Alongside journalists from El País, Mídia Ninja, Tempo and La Región, we heard how governments are trampling on their rights and their wellbeing is suffering. They told us that they have solutions to the climate crisis, and that their connection to the forest is profound and spiritual, its fate is inseparable from their own.

Story by Grace Murray | TBIJ London 2025

What is the forest?

Climate journalists in Europe and North America often write about the forest as a resource, or something that can be quantified; how much carbon it absorbs or biodiversity it contains, or how much of it has been destroyed, measured in football pitches. But what if the forest is your home or a part of you?

“For us, the forest is a family, it is a mother, a brother, a father,” said Alessandra Korap Munduruku, leader of the Munduruku people in Brazil and winner of the Goldman Environmental prize.

Her sentiment is echoed over 17,000 km away in Indonesia by Simon Petrus Balagaize. Across the 100 people interviewed we heard that the forest is a supermarket, temple, pharmacy, cathedral, hardware store, cradle, spiritual home and the foundation of collective identity. Almost a third of people interviewed said the forest is life. For several, it wasn’t possible to describe the ‘forest’ as something separate from themselves.

Indigenous quality of life

A deteriorating forest deeply impacts Indigenous life. The majority of people we spoke to said that deforestation had increased and their living standards had declined. They had less access to water, food and land and worse health. The biggest decline was in the ability to hunt, fish and grow crops, with 68% saying this had got worse in the past ten years. Across the world, tropical forests are still being lost year by year.

Leo Morales from Venezuela said: “It’s getting worse because the forests are further away. The animals are further away. They’re moving further inland. The rivers have dried up, there are no more fish.”

Those we spoke to regularly called out their lack of access to healthcare facilities and medicines. Rocío Picaneray Chiqueno, from Bolivia, said there was no health centre near her community, which suffered from new health problems including tuberculosis, HIV and high blood pressure.

All the people we spoke to in Venezuela said their health situation was worse than it had been ten years ago, with many saying the lack of medical supplies was why. Two said they need to bring their own supplies when visiting a hospital. But changing Indigenous diets, altered by the difficulty in growing and hunting food, was also brought up by many people. Some stressed that the forest itself gives medicine.

Threats to life

Unprompted, people from across the globe told us that they’re experiencing climate change firsthand. They spoke of floods, droughts, wildfires, changes to the seasons and extreme temperatures. More than half of our interviewees had seen the climate crisis changing their land and lives. “There are times when there are floods in the community and other times when droughts are also quite severe,” said Patricia Suárez Torres from Colombia.

The causes of climate change can be as damaging as its consequences. Illegal logging and the expansion of agribusiness, as well as drug trafficking, mining and pollution were all cited as serious threats by Indigenous people from the Congo Basin to the Amazon. Almost 60% said such threats had worsened in the past ten years.

Almost one fifth of people – all from countries on the Amazon river – mentioned mercury poisoning their rivers and fish. Mercury is often used in small-scale gold mining, but has devastating effects on human health, especially for women. People told us about birth defects, pregnancy losses, and children born under-developed. The Yanomami people in northern Brazil have been gravely affected over several decades. “We are now in a phase of bringing mourning to an end, because so many children died,” Waihiri Hekurari Yanomami told TBIJ.

Some Indigenous women told us that gender played a key role in the threats against them. Land invaders engaged in sexual violence, some said, while another spoke of gender-based violence within the community. Teenage pregnancy came up, and another woman talked about facing “macho” leadership from Indigenous men. When Indigenous women lead their communities and the fight for recognition and demarcation of their lands, many receive death threats. Sara Omi from the Embera people in Panama wept as she described female leaders being arrested and chained up: “It hurts us deeply as women.”

Rights and protections

Indigenous people told us time and time again that they need specific laws and recognition of their territories to tackle the threats against them. Then, they said, those laws must be enforced. Finally, projects that affect Indigenous groups should require their consent.

However, more than 60% of the people we spoke to said their country was failing to uphold their rights. The reasons varied. Several felt that governments prioritised multinational companies over Indigenous people. Others pointed angrily to the number of Indigenous people killed or disappeared around the world defending the environment – 146 last year, according to Global Witness, a campaign group.

At least one person from every country was unhappy with their state, but the problem was most acute in Peru and Indonesia. In Peru, there was palpable anger from most people interviewed over the recent rollback of Indigenous rights and environmental laws. In Indonesia, people explicitly condemned the government over land rights.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a 2022 Indigenous peoples law was seen as a step forward, but implementation had been patchy and communities faced violence. In Colombia, however, where Indigenous groups are recognised in the constitution, nine out of ten people said their rights were being upheld. Despite the promising actions of the government, though, Zully Nayibe Rivera – from the Nasa people – said there was still a long way to go in terms of recognising her territory.

Perspectives were mixed in Brazil, which is hosting the COP30 climate conference in November. Several highlighted what they called “anti-Indigenous” forces in Brazil’s Congress. But many recognised the efforts of President Lula and the historic appointment of Sônia Guajajara as minister of Indigenous peoples – this gave them a sense of hope and empowerment.

“We have the solution”

There’s an oft-repeated notion that Indigenous people are “the best guardians” of the forest, popularised by a 2021 UN report. Research certainly shows that deforestation rates are lower in areas they inhabit. Many of those we interviewed spoke powerfully about how they hold important knowledge and solutions to the climate crisis.

But the “guardians” phrase angered some. Wilfredo Tsamash Cabrera, in Peru, called it an insult. “Look, I’m not anyone’s pet,” he said. “I don't agree with that term.” And Jamner Manihuari, also in Peru, said “We are not anyone’s pawns to act as ‘guardians’. We are the owners of our territory.”

Some even laughed when asked if this idea translates into meaningful support. Onel Masardule from the Guna people in Panama said treating Indigenous people as guardians is no good without giving them the necessary tools.

So what does meaningful support look like? For many, it’s formally recognising their territorial rights so that they can continue to sustain the forest through traditional knowledge, thus regulating the climate. Several raised the need for direct funding to keep protecting and preserving forests. Fausto Cruz in Colombia said that finance should focus on specific projects.

Others raised the need to curb polluting and destructive industries, rein in overconsumption by non-Indigenous people, and rethink the concept of development to avoid exploiting natural resources.

Indigenous people alone cannot solve the climate crisis. Responsibility to act, they told us, must lie with those most responsible for causing it. Nardy Velasco Vargas, from the Chiquitano people in Bolivia, said: “It seems that we, as indigenous peoples, are being left with the entire burden of saving the planet.”