Indigenous Peoples and local communities live and manage more than half of the world’s land but they have legal ownership of only 10% of their ancestral territories. These rich biodiverse areas are vital to the people who steward them and the planet we all share. Reducing land conflict, advancing human rights, promoting development and contributing to sustainable climate solutions can all start with strengthening community tenure rights. Tenure Facility works alongside Indigenous Peoples and local communities to advance their community land rights while sharing the knowledge, innovations and tools that emerge.
2025 annual report
Read our 2025 annual report.
2025 was marked by funding cuts, political uncertainty, and growing pressures on Indigenous Peoples’, Afro-descendant Peoples’, and local communities’ territories. Yet across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, communities and their organisations continued to advance rights, strengthen governance, and shape their own futures. Explore the report to learn our and our partners impact last year.
Coming June 2027: Under the Same Sky
Every territory holds a story. Every story is part of something bigger.
Of lands defended and rights won. Of cultures carried across generations. Of communities facing threats while protecting ecosystems and shaping their own futures. This is what secure tenure makes possible.
Across the world, Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples and local communities have driven a movement for recognition, self-determination and stewardship. Its achievements are extraordinary. Its impact reaches far beyond individual territories. And its work is far from over.
Through art and creative media, Under the Same Sky brings these stories to life, inviting you to discover the people, places and possibilities behind this movement: what has been achieved, what is at stake and what becomes possible when communities have the rights and recognition they deserve.
Generations of leadership. Decades of progress. A future still to shape.
Stay close. Discover the movement.
Our work
At Tenure Facility, our goal is simple: we work with indigenous, Afro-descendant, and local communities across the developing world so they can thrive, and expand the sustainable management and protection of their forests and lands for the betterment of themselves and global society as a whole.
How we work
Tenure Facility provides grants and technical assistance directly to Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities and their partners, to support their struggle for land reform and secure tenure, with a particular focus on mitigating climate change, reducing conflict and promoting gender equality.
About us
Over 2.5 billion people from Indigenous Peoples and local communities live on and manage more than 50% of the world’s land area through customary or traditional systems, including some of the most important and biodiverse forest areas in the world. Despite existing laws that secure their rights, they have formal legal ownership of only 10% of this land, with some degree of government-recognised management rights over an additional 8%.