Extreme Wildfires: A Growing Threat—and a Call to Support Indigenous and Community Leadership

This research paper analyzes tree cover loss from 2001 to 2024 in Australia, Brazil, Canada, and the United States, finding that while Indigenous- and community-held lands have lower overall deforestation rates, they are increasingly vulnerable to extreme wildfires. The study highlights a fifteenfold increase in fire-driven loss in Brazil and significant losses in Australia during the 2019–20 season, attributing these trends to climate change and land-clearing fires. It recommends securing land rights, reviving cultural burning traditions, and supporting Indigenous-led fire management to protect biodiversity and climate stability.

• Indigenous- and community-held lands generally exhibit lower overall rates of tree cover loss than other land types, but a higher proportion of the loss they do experience is attributed to wildfires. These fires are primarily driven by factors outside the communities' control, including climate change, deforestation, and restrictive fire management policies.
• Brazil saw the fastest increase in fire-driven tree cover loss on Indigenous- and community-held lands between 2001 and 2024, with a fifteenfold increase fueled by escaped land-clearing fires and deforestation.
• Australia had the second-largest area of burned forest among the studied regions, despite having the smallest proportion of Indigenous- and community-held forests. The majority of this loss occurred during the 2019–20 fire season, caused by record drought and heat intensified by climate change.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Extreme Wildfires: A Growing Threat—and a Call to Support Indigenous and Community Leadership. https://www.wri.org/research/extreme-wildfires-growing-threat-and-call-support-indigenous-and-community-leadership

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Extreme Wildfires: A Growing Threat—and a Call to Support Indigenous and Community Leadership. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/extreme-wildfires-growing-threat-and-call-support-indigenous-and-community-leadership.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Extreme Wildfires: A Growing Threat—and a Call to Support Indigenous and Community Leadership |url=https://www.wri.org/research/extreme-wildfires-growing-threat-and-call-support-indigenous-and-community-leadership |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendextreme, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Extreme Wildfires: A Growing Threat—and a Call to Support Indigenous and Community Leadership}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/extreme-wildfires-growing-threat-and-call-support-indigenous-and-community-leadership}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }