In Panama, the best protection for keeping rainforests from disappearing hasn’t been putting them inside protected refuges. It’s been putting them in the hands of the region’s Indigenous tribes.

In the two decades starting in 2000, just 3% of the roughly 19,000 square kilometers of Indigenous forestland was deforested. By comparison, protected areas lost more than 5% of their forests, while 27% of forests outside these designated regions were cleared, according to a new study in the journal Ecology and Society.

The findings add to the growing evidence that giving Indigenous people more control of lands is often an effective way to stem the tide of forest loss sweeping much of the world. And scientists’ interviews with inhabitants of Indigenous villages in Panama help illuminate key reasons why their lands keep more of their trees. It’s not that the forests are left untouched—in fact, it’s the opposite.

“Forests remain intact not just because they’re remote, but because of how people value them,” said E. Camilo Alejo, who completed the research as a Ph.D. biology student at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. “These aren’t just undisturbed forests; they’re consistently cared for.”

To document how the country’s forests were altered over two decades, the scientists used common methods: They looked at satellite images and tracked how they changed. Pixels from those images were classified as showing signs of long-lasting deforestation, continued forest coverage, or a sort of in-between state, in which there was evidence of temporary loss of forests that then regrew.

This bird’s-eye view allowed the scientists to see how the fate of forests differed depending on who protected they were and by whom. It showed that deforestation rates were lowest in Indigenous lands, and that forest cover in those areas experienced the most long-term stability. But it came with a twist: Compared to protected areas the Indigenous-controlled lands were more than twice as likely to experience temporary disturbance, where forest was at least partially cleared and then regrew: 7% versus 2%. Lands with no protections had the highest disturbance levels—nearly 10%—as well as the most rapid deforestation.

To understand these patterns, the scientists traded distant satellites for a more intimate look at how people were living with these forests. They took printouts of satellite images and met with focus groups of between 3 and 8 people in 8 Indigenous villages. Some of those villages were in central Panama, along the Panamanian Highway not far from the capital of Panama City. Others were in a remote southern area near the border with Colombia. There, they asked people to show where on the maps they took part in different activities.

The picture that emerged was a human presence in a multitude of places spread across the landscape. High-impact farming of crops such as corn, rice and yams, associated with deforestation, was concentrated at the edge of forests. By contrast, the villagers pointed out a sprawling network of activities inside the forests that might create temporary disturbances, such as: harvesting wood to build homes or canoes. Other places were used for hunting and honey-gathering, or more religious and cultural activities such as a sacred mountain or a place where the kipara fruit, used for body painting, was collected.

“Many Indigenous communities integrate farming, spirituality and conservation in how they use the land,” said Alejo. “Our findings show that this diverse set of values aligns with areas where forests have remained stable, suggesting a strong connection between cultural practices and long-term forest stewardship.”

The findings, say the researchers, underscore the potential benefits of giving Indigenous people legal ownership of the lands they occupy. In many places, occupation of the land isn’t matched with a legal title to it, making it more vulnerable to being overtaken by activities such as mining or logging. To gain legal title, land often needs to be used—but not in a way that recognizes many Indigenous uses of the land.

Reforms to land policies could grant Indigenous groups collective title to lands, even ones in protected areas, based on their stewardship and careful use of the land, the scientists argued.

“Paradoxically, in many legal frameworks, you have to exploit land to claim title,” said Alejo. “This study shows how much we can learn from Indigenous cosmovisions: holistic worldviews that connect nature, culture and well-being. There’s real potential to rethink how we manage land, not just in Panama, but globally.”

Alejo, et. al. “Diverse values regarding nature are related to stable forests: the case of Indigenous lands in Panama.” Ecology and Society. 2025.

Photo: By Alex Proimos via Flickr