Indigenous Peoples' Forest Tenure

• This article highlights and details the importance of "secure land tenure" as a socially-just climate solution that protects the rights of Indigenous people, while also protecting ecosystems and carbon sinks, and preventing emissions from deforestation.
  
• Students will read about the potential amount of greenhouse gases that could be prevented or sequestered by the year 2050 using real-world calculations that take into account the land area involved, two adoption scenarios, and other factors that could affect the results.
  

Positives

• This article highlights a climate solution that addresses both climate change and human rights.
• This article is presented in a scientific paper format, which can be useful for both science and language arts classes.

Additional Prerequisites

• Consider previewing the format of the article in order for students to better understand how the findings of the study are being reported.
• Prepare students for this new content by activating prior knowledge on climate justice that explains how climate change disproportionally impacts those who are least responsible for it.
• Have students review this table of climate solutions or any of these Climate 101 videos by Project Drawdown to gain additional insights and knowledge prior to reading this article.
  

Differentiation

• This article contains a great amount of information and data, so it may benefit students to have a note-taking guide or T-chart to allow them to track the most significant data. 
• Science classes can use this article to reinforce the importance of maintaining ecosystems and protecting forests to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
  
• Teachers may consider pre-teaching new vocabulary in the article which would allow students to better focus on the comprehension of big ideas within the text.
• Activate students' background knowledge before reading by asking them to journal briefly about what they know about Indigenous peoples, climate change, and human rights.
• Consider having students view this powerful video about an Indigenous boy who is magically allowed to see what various degraded environments were once like as a way to emotionally connect with the content before reading the article.
• After reading, put students in small groups to discuss both their reflections on this solution and the ways they might be able to get involved in this type of solution or others.
• Other related resources on this topic include this article about the importance of knowledge from Indigenous communities about climate change and adaptation, and this article which highlights a young person who took action to create awareness about climate change and Indigenous rights.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.