Abstract
This report examines how governments can turn the Intergovernmental Land Tenure Commitment (ILTC), launched at COP30 in Belém, into lasting territorial security for Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendant Peoples. The commitment calls for at least 80 million hectares of newly recognized tenure and strengthened governance and protection across 80 million hectares of already recognized lands by 2030. The separate US$1.8 billion Forest and Land Tenure Pledge for 2026–2030 can help finance implementation. The report grounds both efforts in rights to land, resources, and self-determined governance, which apply independently of conservation and climate outcomes.
The authors combine a review of existing research, regional geospatial overlays of mapped territories and industrial concessions, and illustrative case studies in Brazil, Costa Rica, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Indonesia, Peru, and Tanzania. The report traces how oil and gas, mining, logging, industrial agriculture, and infrastructure can constrain territorial governance even where tenure is formally recognized. Regional analysis finds that oil and gas blocks overlap approximately 31 million hectares of Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ territories in the Amazon Basin and 38% of mapped community forests in the Congo Basin. Mining concessions overlap 17% of mapped Indigenous and community lands in Mesoamerica, while wood concessions overlap 18% of mapped Indigenous lands in Indonesia. In the Ecuadorian Amazon, the Suroriente oil licensing round overlaps 1.6 million hectares of titled Indigenous territory. The figures describe mapped overlaps, with coverage limited by available tenure and concession data.
The case studies document responses led by rights-holders, including efforts to protect the cross-border Yavarí-Tapiche Territorial Corridor, Guarani-Kaiowá ancestral land recovery in Brazil, and community governance of the Boso Asukomo sacred forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They also document forest and biodiversity outcomes associated with secure tenure, including lower forest loss inside established and proposed reserves for Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact in Peru.
The report recommends accelerating recognition of customary and collective tenure, extending protection and governance support to newly recognized territories, and aligning licensing, infrastructure, and investment decisions with rights-holders’ plans and applicable Free, Prior, and Informed Consent obligations. It calls for direct, long-term, flexible finance and monitoring led by Indigenous Peoples and communities. It proposes tracking whether rights-holders can exercise authority, whether finance reaches them, and whether governments address industrial threats, alongside the number of hectares recognized or protected.
Publication details
Published: November 12, 2026 · Language: English · Type: Research report
Corporate authors: Earth Insight, Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, Tenure Facility, Rights and Resources Initiative, Global Land Alliance, and PINGO’s Forum.
Research team: Florencia Librizzi led the report, Jennifer Tierney led case-study research and drafting, and Anna Bebbington led the geospatial research and analysis.
Suggested citation: Earth Insight, Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, Tenure Facility, Rights and Resources Initiative, Global Land Alliance, and PINGO’s Forum. (2026). From Commitment to Territorial Security through the Intergovernmental Land Tenure Commitment: Strengthening Land Rights and Governance in the Face of Industrial Pressures.
License: Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
View the original report page at Earth Insight.
Read the COP31 press release on TenureSecurity.org.
Featured image: NASA World Wind, public domain.
