Tejal Somvanshi
New research shows that healthy forests on Indigenous lands across the Amazon rainforest are helping to reduce the spread of 27 different diseases that threaten the region’s 33 million people. The study, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, analyzed 20 years of health data from 1,733 municipalities across eight Amazon countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela, and French Guiana. These areas represent more than 74% of the entire Amazon region.
Researchers found that areas closer to well-maintained forests on Indigenous territories experienced fewer cases of two major disease categories: heart and lung problems caused by forest fires, and illnesses spread by animals and insects.
Between 2001 and 2019, nearly 30 million cases of these diseases were reported throughout the Amazon. The list includes familiar threats like malaria as well as lesser-known conditions such as Chagas disease, hantavirus, leishmaniasis, and spotted fevers.
“Indigenous forests in the Amazon bring health benefits to millions,” said Paula Prist, Senior Programme Coordinator at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which led the research. “This study offers new evidence that forests themselves are a balm for fire-related threats to people’s lungs and hearts, to illnesses like Chagas, malaria and spotted fevers.”
The timing of the research is significant, coming at the start of forest fire season in the Amazon and ahead of international climate talks (COP30) scheduled in Belém, Brazil.
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Ana Filipa Palmeirim, visiting professor at Federal University of Pará and co-author of the study, explained the immediate health crisis these fires create: “These fires fill the air with thick, choking smoke, sending droves to the hospital for respiratory ailments. As daily life comes to a complete standstill, children and the elderly must stay home to avoid hospital visits.”
The smoke from forest fires contains harmful particles that can trigger or worsen respiratory issues, heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer. In the Brazilian Amazon alone, fires caused an average of 2,906 premature deaths annually between 2002 and 2011.
Many of these fires aren’t natural – they’re deliberately set by people illegally clearing forest for cattle grazing or crops. Climate change makes the situation worse by creating hotter, drier conditions that help fires spread.
Recent research suggests that Indigenous-managed forests in the Brazilian Amazon might prevent about 15 million cases of breathing and heart problems each year by absorbing pollutants from fires.
The health benefits appear strongest when Indigenous communities have legal recognition of their land rights, allowing them to better protect their forests. This adds to growing evidence that supporting Indigenous land rights helps fight climate change, protect wildlife, and now, prevent disease.
Growing threats to these forests include expanding agriculture, oil drilling, and large infrastructure projects like roads and dams. Deforestation from these activities has been directly linked to increases in tropical diseases that often lack readily available treatments.
While the research clearly shows a connection between healthy Indigenous forests and fewer disease cases, experts note this is a correlation that requires further study to fully understand all the factors involved.
The findings support calls for stronger legal protection of Indigenous territories as not just an environmental measure, but also as a public health strategy that could benefit millions of people across the Amazon region.
