The relationship between Indigenous Peoples' lands and conservation: A systematic literature review

Abstract A growing body of peer‐reviewed literature is focused on the relationship between Indigenous Peoples' lands (Indigenous lands) and conservation outcomes. We performed a systematic review of this English reported peer‐reviewed literature ( n = 111) to examine: the key characteristics; the conservation outcomes documented; the methods used in these studies; and the factors that can shape the effectiveness of Indigenous lands compared to other land tenure types. Positive relationships between Indigenous lands and conservation outcomes were documented in most of the studies ( n = 83, 75%); where Indigenous lands delivered outcomes at levels comparable to or exceeding those of protected areas. Most of these studies were published after 2017 ( n = 81, 73%), and were focused on Amazonia ( n = 67, 60%) and the tropics more generally ( n = 71, 64%). The bulk of these studies performed spatial data analysis ( n = 99, 89%) and compared Indigenous lands to protected areas ( n = 74, 67%) and to multiple tenure types ( n = 52, 47%). Vegetation or forest cover was the most common conservation metric used ( n = 62, 56%), followed by faunal or floral diversity and species distribution ( n = 36, 32%). Eight articles (7%) had self‐identified Indigenous Peoples as authors. Engaging Indigenous Peoples as authors in these studies may deepen understanding of this relationship between Indigenous lands and conservation. The literature highlights numerous threats to Indigenous lands, and 71 articles (64%) offered policy recommendations for sustaining positive relationships between Indigenous lands and conservation, which included strengthening Indigenous land tenure ( n = 37, 33%), supporting Indigenous governance of their lands ( n = 25, 22.5%) and providing funds and resources for Indigenous stewardship of their lands ( n = 24, 22%). Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.