[Above: Artisanal fishers cross the estuary in the Sipacate-Naranjo conservation area, Guatemala. Community members use artisanal fishing gear, which they throw from their canoe, to catch bony fish. Credit: Sergio Izquierdo ©WCS]
 

BELEM, BRAZIL, November 7, 2025—WCS today welcomed the announcement at the World Leaders Summit at CoP30 in Belem to recognize 160 million hectares of Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ lands through the Intergovernmental Land Tenure Commitment by 2030.  

“Recognition of land rights and tenure are a key priority for WCS as we support Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendants, and various local communities to secure their rights through land titling and to help exercise these rights,” said Sushil Raj, WCS Executive Director of Rights and Communities.  

The Wildlife Conservation Society has supported the #PledgeWeWant and welcomes the new $1.8 billion pledge by the Forest Tenure Funders Group (FTFG) to support Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities to secure land rights across an expanded range of ecosystems in addition to forests.  It is important for a greater proportion of this pledge funding to flow directly to them. 

“At COP30 our institution seeks to advance key priorities on ecological integrity as a substantive link between climate and biodiversity synergies,” said Joe Walston, Executive Vice President of the Global Conservation Program. "We are calling for a halt to and reversal of deforestation and forest degradation by placing nature as a central mitigation strategy."

"Governments must also enhance the resilience of nature and people by linking biodiversity protection with adaptation,” Walston continued. "In all of this Indigenous and local community knowledge and leadership play a vital role in climate action. They must be resourced and their territorial rights strengthened.”

Added Marcos Amend, WCS’s Country Director for Brazil, “The recognition of Brazil’s Indigenous Nationally Determined Contribution, and the demarcation of 270 Indigenous territories in the process of formal title registration will be a key step in realizing this new Intergovernmental Land Tenure Commitment."

The Wildlife Conservation Society stands ready to support Brazil and other governments, Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendants, and local communities in this monumental endeavor to protect nature and our planet. 

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