Indigenous communities face mounting challenges and victories in land rights and conservation efforts during 2025

The year 2025 brought a complex mix of setbacks and breakthroughs for Indigenous communities worldwide as they continued their decades-long fight for land rights and environmental protection. A major blow came in January when sudden USAID funding cuts severely impacted community-led conservation efforts, particularly affecting projects in Ethiopia and the Amazon Basin where Indigenous groups have been working to protect critical ecosystems.

Climate representation remained a persistent challenge despite some progress. While COP30 in Brazil saw an unprecedented number of Indigenous delegates participate in the UN climate conference, reports from Mongabay highlighted the continued failure of these international summits to meaningfully include Indigenous voices in actual decision-making processes. This exclusion is particularly concerning given Indigenous peoples’ proven track record as effective environmental stewards.

The search for critical minerals essential to renewable energy technology created new threats to Indigenous territories throughout 2025. Many mining projects moved forward without proper community consent or adequate environmental safeguards, while illegal artisanal mining continued polluting the forests and rivers that Indigenous communities depend on for survival.

However, the year also showcased remarkable Indigenous-led solutions. Communities formed Indigenous guard units, many led by women, that combine traditional protection methods with modern technology to defend their forests against invasions and illegal activities. These grassroots conservation initiatives have successfully protected wildlife, restored watersheds, and resisted the expansion of monoculture farming and deforestation—often with little to no external financial support, demonstrating the resilience and innovation of Indigenous environmental defenders.