Anais do XXI Simpósio Brasileiro de Sensoriamento Remoto

Forests are essential for life on Earth, yet they are increasingly threatened by human pressure and natural disturbances. Protected areas, managed by governments, Indigenous people, or private actors, represent one effective way to conserve forest ecosystems and biodiversity. Currently, one-third of Brazil’s land area is under some form of protection, with the largest share in the Amazon's tropical moist broadleaf forests. GEDI-based assessment of forest structure and biomass in conservation areas shows that Indigenous-managed lands have consistently taller forests and denser biomass than other protected areas. Additionally, our statistical matching analysis comparing conservation areas and ecologically and environmentally similar but non-protected controls indicates that forest height and aboveground biomass are better preserved in Indigenous Territories and protected areas than in non-protected matched control areas. These research findings support that conservation areas, especially Indigenous Territories, contribute considerably to carbon storage in vegetation biomass with implications for climate change mitigation.