The role of Indigenous Territories and Protected Areas in Amazon Connectivity

Foto: Jaime Culebras

A study published in PNAS on July 28, 2025, highlights the role Indigenous Territories (ITs) and Protected Areas (PAs) in maintaining ecosystem connectivity. In the Amazon drainage basin, human activity is disrupting ecosystem connectivity—the unimpeded movement of species and the flow of natural processes—, negatively impacting ecosystem health. 

Using remote sensing datasets, researchers mapped ecosystem connectivity and analyzed the spatial distribution of six anthropogenic activities—dam construction, deforestation, fire, mining, oil and gas exploration, and roads—across four landscapes in the Amazon basin: lowland forests, wetlands, rivers, and the Andes, both within and outside of ITs and PAs. The authors found that 14–16% of land within Indigenous Territories and Protected Areas (ITPAs) is affected by human activities, compared to 38% in unprotected areas. Terrestrial, wetland, and riverine ecosystems all exhibit higher connectivity within ITPAs than outside. 

According to the authors, strengthening governance and promoting sustainable initiatives within ITPAs could be an effective strategy for conserving ecosystem connectivity.

This study was led by Camila D. Ritter (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Brazil), Jesús Muñoz (Real Jardín Botánico, Spain), and Juan Manuel Guayasamin (Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador and SPA Lead Author).

This study was informed by the publications and work of the Science Panel for the Amazon.

Read the article: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2418189122 

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Juan Manuel Guayasamin, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ. 

Email: jmguayasamin@usfq.edu.ec