Satellite data helped indigenous Peruvians save rainforest: study
Indigenous peoples patrolling the Peruvian Amazon equipped with smartphones and satellite data were able to drastically reduce illegal deforestation, according to the results of an experiment published Monday.
The study, which appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), showed that recognizing indigenous people's rights to their territory can be a powerful force against the climate crisis, the authors said.
The trial assessed the impact of indigenous forest community monitoring patrols in reducing deforestation when equipped with satellite-based alerts.
It found a 52 percent drop in deforestation in 2018 and 21 percent reduction in 2019, in villages that were randomly assigned equipment and training compared to those that were not.
The reductions in forest loss were especially concentrated in communities facing the most immediate threats from illegal gold mining, logging, and the planting of illicit crops like coca plants used to make cocaine.
