Forests are best preserved by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) using their traditional knowledge and management systems. In Colombia, 53.4% of the standing forests are located in ethnic minorities' territories, with 46% of these belonging to indigenous reservations. 

The project aimed to strengthen the capacity of 5 Indigenous Councils (IC) to request their official recognition as Indigenous Local Governments and prepare 9 ICs to fulfill legal requirements, considering a GEDSI approach and Indigenous Peoples' ownership to secure the process's legitimacy in order to protect 10 million hectares of standing forest.

This project contributed to advancing the consolidation of indigenous governments by implementing activities that allowed these governments to deepen the analysis and formulation of their life plans and their components: administrative structures, strengthening plans, and facilitating conditions to enhance the political participation of women in their territorial processes.

"The working alliance between the indigenous peoples and governments, the Government of the UK and GAIA Amazonas, has made it possible to advance decisively in the consolidation of the Indigenous Territorial Entities, as an effective measure for the protection of the Amazon and the mitigation of the effects of climate change."

Camilo Guio Rodríguez, Operational Director, GAIA Amazonas Foundation