Indigenous Women and Management: A Global Analysis of Localized Funding Initiatives in the Tropics

Environmental funds, particularly those related to climate and biodiversity, received by Indigenous Peoples (IP) and Local Communities (LC) remain far below their estimated needs for securing tenure rights and preserving their territories. Collectively managed land encompasses about half of the world's total land area. Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN) estimates that from 2017-20, funding for projects supporting IPs’ and LCs’ tenure and forest management was relatively static, remaining between USD 250 and 300 million per year. Of this total, only 11 percent was provided to projects that advanced tenure security—meeting only 3 percent of the estimated needs.
Acknowledging this challenge, territorial organizations are working on creating financial tracking mechanisms to monitor compromised funds and setting up direct-access funding channels. This study aims to give an overview of the localization of finance, particularly in what concerns the creation and development of 'territorial funds.' Currently, women are predominantly the leaders of territorial funds. Their leadership is recognized and characterized by their pairs. This is an exceptional phenomenon, as the leadership of territorial organizations, on the contrary, has rarely been in the hands of Indigenous women. Why are women trusted to hold institutional positions such as these? Why are they interested in managing these new institutional arrangements?

This is a qualitative analysis based on documents, information derived from 45 interviews
conducted by the author, and participant observation on several events presenting advances in institutionalizing these funds. The funds considered are of global reach and are focused on the Amazon, Mesoamerica, Asia, and the Congo Basin.