What looks like untouched forest is, in many places, a cultural landscape. In the fourth episode of Centre for Development and Environment's (CDE) “Unboxing Biodiversity Policy,” Dr. Sarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel—ethnobiologist with a PhD in human geography, Senior Research Scientist at CDE, and researcher at the Wyss Academy—traces how centuries of Indigenous stewardship have shaped forests, soils, and species distributions in Madre de Dios. Recognizing this biocultural diversity matters in a biodiverse region under pressure from gold mining, illegal logging, and land-use change, where separating nature from its custodians is neither effective nor ethical.

This conversation links to our joint work with FENAMAD and CDE on Indigenous Territorial Governance Schemes and to the Indigenous Researchers Program that brings Indigenous experts into the research and policy dialogue. Together, we co-create evidence and practical guidance that advance inclusive decision-making, environmental justice, and durable protection of people and nature, delivering on our mission to connect science, policy, and practice, and to scale grounded insights across tropical forest frontiers.