- More than 20 Afro-descendant grassroots organizations in the region have developed a collective mapping of their territorial presence across 15 countries,* highlighting the status of recognition of their territorial rights.
- Afro-descendant territories are among the most vulnerable areas to climate change. In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 75% of these territories are projected to experience temperature increases of more than 7°C.
- Most Afro-descendant territories overlap with key areas for climate change regulation and mitigation, underscoring their valuable contribution to environmental conservation.
October 24, 2024 (Cali, Colombia): A new Afro-descendant Atlas, launched at the UN CBD CoP16 taking place this week in Cali, Colombia, showcases for the first time the ancestral territories, rural settlements, and collectively-owned lands of Afro-descendant Peoples across 15 countries* in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Created by organizations, leaders, activists, and academics involved in the Afro-descendant social movement in the Americas led by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), Black Communities Process (PCN), National Coordination of Articulation of Rural Black Quilombola Communities (CONAQ), and the Observatory of Ethnic and Peasant Territories (OTEC) from the Javeriana University, the Atlas has identified nearly 32.7 million hectares (80.8 million acres) of land currently home to Afro-descendant Peoples.
According to the most recent government estimates, Afro-descendant Peoples represent 24% of the total population of Latin America and the Caribbean, which is about 154 million. However, to date, only 24% of their collective territories have been titled (about 8.3 million hectares or 20.5 million acres) with 15% of territories in the process of some form of recognition.
John Antón, a professor at the Institute of Higher National Studies of Ecuador, expressed surprise that only four countries in Latin America currently recognize property and land-use rights for Afro-descendant Peoples: Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, and Bolivia. Antón said, “Unlike Indigenous Peoples, the rights of Afro-descendants to their ancestral territories do not receive the same level of recognition.”
The Atlas further indicates that Afro-descendant Peoples settled in rural and ancestral territories are characterized as “communities that conserve ecosystems” since 83% of their identified and titled territories display a high degree of conservation. Meanwhile, 72% of the demarcated territories show a high level of forest conservation.
Darío Solano, coordinator of the organization Red Afros in the Dominican Republic and member of the Afro-descendant Coalition, says: “With this Atlas, we seek to promote the creation of public policies focused on the recognition of the collective territorial rights of Afro-descendant Peoples, and above all to demonstrate to the world the key role that our population has in the protection of biodiversity and mitigation of climate change. There is a lack of legislation on the subject, and only four countries in Latin America legally recognize property rights and land use for Afrodescendant Peoples.”
Despite being considered hotspots for biodiversity conservation, these territories face growing threats from mining, illegal deforestation, and the effects of climate change. Experts predict that more than 75% of these territories will suffer a temperature increase of over 7°C. Meanwhile, half of the demarcated territories are likely to experience a temperature increase of between 6 and 7°C, and more than 26% will experience a temperature increase of more than 7°C.
This Atlas attempts to give an account of the territories’ conditions and constitutes an instrument of self-identification. These two elements (identity and territories) are key to understanding who Afro-descendant Peoples are in Latin America.
To compile this information, the researchers analyzed official and academic sources and Afro-descendant organizations’ own data as well as land cover overlaying land use maps with titled, untitled, and demarcated Afro-descendant lands (explore the open-access cartographic viewer here). They also examined biodiversity hotspots, identifying areas of high endemism, human damage, and habitat loss using data from Global Forest Watch.
“For the first time, the territoriality of the Afro-descendant Peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean is made visible; before this, there were no records of Afro-descendant territoriality. This is part of a continuous effort and numerous updates of our collective mapping. This is not a mapping done from a desk by an expert alien to the territory or the reality of the Afro-descendant Peoples themselves. This data is collected by the population itself and will have more phases in the future. We are already collecting data focused now on the territories, including populations from seven Caribbean islands,” says Omaira Bolaños, director of RRI’s Latin America and Gender Justice program.
