Indigenous and local women struggle for land rights despite their role in conservation, says report

Women from indigenous, Afro-descendent and local communities play an important role in protecting forests and biodiversity. They pass down traditional knowledge, manage natural resources and help prevent deforestation. But despite their contributions, governments worldwide are failing to recognise their rights to land and forests, according to a new report titled Resilience and Resistance.

The report, released on March 11, 2025, by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), analysed land and forest laws in 35 countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America. It covered 80 per cent of forests.

It found that laws meant to protect women’s rights are either weak or missing in most places.

Lack of legal recognition remains the most significant barrier preventing indigenous and local women from securing their land forest rights. This issue is particularly crucial in the context of Article 8(j) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which emphasises the role of indigenous and local knowledge in conservation.

Furthermore, decisions under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), including the recognition of Afro-descendent communities’ rights, highlight the importance of ensuring legal protection at the national level.

While these global commitments provide a foundation, many national laws still fail to incorporate them effectively, leaving indigenous women vulnerable to exclusion and displacement.

Despite comprising half of the 2.5 billion indigenous and rural people who depend on collectively held lands and forests, just five per cent of legal frameworks regulating community forest tenure adequately protect women’s leadership rights at the community level.

For example, of 104 community-based forest tenure regimes (CBTRs) studied, only two per cent guarantee women the right to vote in community decisions about forests. And 5 per cent women have leadership roles.

This means that in most cases, women have little say in how community forests are managed, even though they depend on them for their livelihoods.

Regional trends

Despite passing the most legal reforms since 2016, the 13 countries analysed in Africa, show the least amount of progress in securing women’s rights on forest tenure. In Asia, 11 countries demonstrate the highest degree of proportional advancements for women’s community forest rights. However, one country (Indonesia) still fails to provide equal constitutional protection for women.

In India, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA) is a landmark law that recognises forest land rights for indigenous and forest dependent communities.

However, implementation challenges remain concerning women’s land rights. India’s laws say men and women are equal, but some court decisions are confusing and unfair to women when it comes to inheriting property and being part of family businesses.

A positive example comes from Odisha, where in 2014, 14 community forest rights titles were approved, and in four of the 24 villages that received them, Forest Protection Committees were composed entirely of women, showcasing progress in women’s leadership.

Latin America has the smallest proportion of adequate protections for the rights of indigenous, Afro-descendent and local community women. However, it is also the only region to have no legislation rollbacks in the recognition of community women’s forest rights between 2016 and 2024.

Indigenous women are also the keepers of traditional ecological knowledge. They know which plants have medicinal properties, how to farm sustainably and how to protect water resources. Yet, many legal systems fail to recognise their rights.

In many places, women’s land rights are tied to their marital status, if they are unmarried, widowed or divorced, they may lose access to the land they have cared for all their lives. The study found that only 13 per cent provide clear legal protections for women to inherit land.

The report also warned that conservation policies often ignore gender equality. Protected areas and conservation projects sometimes restrict women’s access to forests without providing alternative means of livelihood.

In some cases, women are even evicted from lands they have traditionally managed in the name of conservation.

The document highlighted how, many women environmental defenders have been attacked or criminalised for protecting their communities and forests.

It called for urgent reforms, with only five years left to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, including gender equality and climate action, the world cannot afford to leave indigenous and local women behind.