‘barefoot lawyers’ help indigenous communities reclaim 84 million acres of ancestral lands worldwide

A groundbreaking legal initiative led by Filipino lawyer Nonette Royo is transforming how Indigenous and local communities around the world secure their ancestral land rights. As executive director of The Tenure Facility, Royo leads a team of “barefoot lawyers” who work directly with communities to navigate complex legal systems and reclaim their territories.

The results have been remarkable. With over $150 million in secured funding, the organization has helped communities gain legal recognition for 34 million hectares—an area larger than Greece—across 35 projects spanning multiple continents. Their work focuses on Indigenous, local, and Afro-descendant communities whose traditional territories are often under threat from development, deforestation, and climate change.

Speaking from the UN climate summit COP30 in Brazil, Royo emphasized the critical connection between land rights and environmental protection. “This work is really about land tenure, and about land and people,” she explained. “At this point in our world, where we are breaching planetary boundaries, we are still hesitating to invest in the people who protect our land, our forests and our diverse systems.” The Tenure Facility’s success has earned recognition as a finalist for the 2025 Earthshot Prize.

The timing is crucial as Indigenous communities increasingly face pressure on their territories despite being among the world’s most effective environmental stewards. At COP30, dubbed the “Indigenous COP” for its record Indigenous participation, advocates continued pushing for direct funding to communities while supporting initiatives like the Intergovernmental Land Tenure Commitment, which aims to recognize an additional 160 million hectares of Indigenous lands globally.