UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

Indigenous territories and protected areas are crucial for ecosystem connectivity in the Amazon basin

Identification

Public canonical key

radar:r-acf6b0e56fbffe91e4a88575f3d847fb

Authors

Camila Duarte Ritter · Jesús Muñoz · Arielli Fabrício Machado · James S. Albert · CAMILA CHEREM RIBAS · Ana Carolina Carnaval · Carmen Ulloa Ulloa · Juan D. Carrillo · Hanna Tuomisto · Dolors Armenteras · Juan M. Guayasamin

Reported year

2025

Reported language

en

Source type

article

First detected

2026-11-14T09:36:59.595262+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-14T09:36:59.595262+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia · Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas · Real Jardín Botánico · Harvard University · Universidade Federal do Pampa · Amazon (United States) · University of Louisiana at Lafayette · The Graduate Center, CUNY · City College of New York · City University of New York · Missouri Botanical Garden · SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics · University of Fribourg · University of Turku · Aarhus University · Universidad Nacional de Colombia · Universidad San Francisco de Quito

Reported affiliation countries

BR · CH · CO · DK · EC · ES · FI · US

Documentary abstract — original language

Ecosystem connectivity—the uninterrupted flow of natural processes within and among ecosystems—is critical for maintaining healthy ecosystem functions. However, in the Amazon drainage basin, multiple anthropogenic activities are rapidly disrupting connectivity. To assess the severity of this problem, we analyzed the spatial distributions of six major anthropogenic activities: dam construction, deforestation, fire, mining, oil and gas exploitation, and roads. We examined their impacts across four key landscapes: Amazonian Andes, lowland nonflooded forests, wetlands, and rivers. Using a resistance-based connectivity model, we quantified connectivity across terrestrial, wetland, and river ecosystems and found a marked decline in connectivity across the basin. A central focus of our study was the role of Indigenous Territories and Protected Areas (ITPAs), which collectively cover over 50% of the basin. Our findings show that ITPAs sustain significantly high levels of ecosystem connectivity. Only 14 to 16% of ITPA land is impacted by anthropogenic activities, compared to 38% in unprotected areas. Terrestrial ecosystems in the southern and eastern Amazon are heavily impacted by deforestation, mining, and fires, with significantly higher connectivity inside ITPAs than in unprotected areas ( P < 0.01). Wetlands and riverine ecosystems also face severe fragmentation, particularly from dams and illegal mining—but maintain stronger connectivity within ITPAs (wetlands: P < 0.01; rivers: P < 0.001), with the few remaining free-flowing Andean rivers increasingly isolated from the lowland Amazon. Strengthening governance and sustainable initiatives in ITPAs, in partnership with local inhabitants, represents an expedient, efficient, and cost-effective strategy for conserving ecosystem connectivity in the Amazon basin.

Identifiers

OPENALEX

https://openalex.org/W4412704388

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2418189122

PMID

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40720645

PMCID

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/12337320

Documentary context

Documentary family

article

Source-reported types

article

Publishers

National Academy of Sciences

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAlex · Record 1

• Document · https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2418189122

Documentary status

Relevance pending

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