Whenever humans cut into the Amazon rainforest or burn or destroy part of it, it makes people sick.
This is the idea that indigenous people have lived for thousands of years. Now, a new study in the journal Earth and the Environment adds scientific evidence to support it, finding examples of several diseases lowered in the forests for areas where the indigenous people who remain well in the forest.
With the UN Climate Summit held in Brazil in November, study authors and outside experts said the work highlights the bets of people around the world as negotiators try to address climate change. The city of Belem, which hosted the conference, is known as the gateway to the Amazon, and many will participate from activists to representatives, believing that the role of indigenous communities in climate action and conservation will stand out in a unique way.
“From the perspective of the indigenous people, the ‘forests’ or ‘human forest’ has always been linked to the reciprocity between human health and the natural environment in which humans live. “If every state does not guarantee the rights and territories of indigenous peoples, we will inevitably harm their health, lives and ecosystems themselves.” ”
The damage looks like a respiratory disease, such as asthma caused by toxic air pollution after a fire, or diseases such as spreading from animals to malaria to humans.
The researchers edited and analyzed data on forest quality, legal recognition of indigenous areas and disease incidence in countries including the Amazon.
The work was “impressive” for Kristie Ebi, a health and climate scientist at the University of Washington. This highlights the complexity of factors that affect human health, and the importance of understanding the role that indigenous communities play in shaping it, she said. “Using these methods, others can study the rest of the world,” she said.
Magdalena Hurtado, a professor of anthropology and global health at Arizona State University, said researchers have found other variables that may affect the spread of the disease, such as access to health care in specific areas. But she may not be assured of the accuracy of the discoveries as they are based on correlation and use observational data that may be difficult to measure, thus proposing these findings.
“They claim that when forest coverage is above 40%, indigenous areas can only protect their health. It feels like 40%? Why not 35 years old? Or why not divide it?” she asked. “This does not mean that the research is wrong, but it means we need to be cautious because if different, more precise methods are used, the pattern may change.”
Nevertheless, she believes this is a starting point that can open up future research. “They are actually doing something really beautiful,” she said.
Fecotyba’s Hernández said it is important for global decision makers coming to Brazil.
“From my indigenous perspective, I think this kind of research will make our ancestral knowledge more visible and accurate,” he said.
There is a lot of evidence that indigenous land authority helps maintain intact forests, but this article shows that it is also important in forests in the field of indigenous peoples’ development.
Prist said the purpose of the study was to understand how landscapes are healthy for people, but it is naive to suggest that all forest landscapes remain completely as they are, especially in the land needs of agriculture and livestock production.
She said the world needs a landscape that provides economic services and services that protect people’s health.
For Julia Barreto, an ecologist and data scientist who also works on the research, it is part of a team of scientists from different countries that aims to make information publicly accessible and attract Amazon’s attention.
“It’s not just a country, but the whole world depends on it in some way,” she said.
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Associated Press writer Steven Grattan contributed to the report in Bogota, Colombia.
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Follow Melina Walling on X @melinawalling and Bluesky @Melinawalling.bsky.social.
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