Indigenous Leaders Discuss AI Use for Environmental Protection at UN Forum

Indigenous leaders gathered at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to discuss harnessing artificial intelligence for protecting traditional lands while addressing its environmental drawbacks. Grist reported that AI is aiding communities in detecting illegal logging, tracking wildfires, and monitoring biodiversity through satellite imagery and sensors.

The forum focuses on using AI's capabilities without exacerbating extractive pressures on Indigenous territories.

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, a Mbororo leader and former chair of the UNPFII, published a study on AI's possibilities and challenges for environmental protection. The study details land-grabbing, water overexploitation, and land degradation stemming from AI's high demands for energy, water, and critical minerals often sourced from Indigenous areas.

' Ibrahim explained that combining AI with Indigenous knowledge can predict climate impacts, track wildlife movements, and enhance land-use planning for faster resilience strategies.

Grist reported that AI helps detect deforestation, illegal mining, wildfires, or water contamination. In Brazil’s Acre state, 21 Indigenous agroforestry agents in the Katukina/Kaxinawá Indigenous Reserve are using AI to combat deforestation. The reserve ranks among the top five for deforestation risk, according to a forecast from an AI tool developed by Microsoft and the Brazilian nonprofit Imazon.

' Lars Ailo Bongo, a professor at UiT The Arctic University in Norway, leads the Sámi AI Lab investigating AI support for Indigenous Sámi people. ' Grist reported that the lab addresses how AI can align with Sámi norms despite current inclusivity limitations.

Inuit communities in Nunavut are blending traditional knowledge with predictive AI models and time-series analyses to find new fishing locations amid climate change effects on fish availability.

Similarly, Indigenous pastoralists in Chad combine participatory mapping, satellite data, and predictive AI tools to anticipate severe droughts and secure transhumance corridors. These efforts boost climate resilience through integrated approaches. Rainforest Foundation US supports Indigenous communities in South America by combining traditional knowledge with technologies like planting trees along boundaries, smartphones, and drones for territory protection.

Cameron Ellis, field science director at Rainforest Foundation US, stated in an email, 'AI is the latest tool in that continuum. ' Data centers powering AI require substantial water, energy, and critical minerals often extracted from Indigenous territories, driving new threats.

Grist reported that these needs contribute to environmental impacts including biodiversity loss and community displacement in various global locations.

Ibrahim's study also notes challenges like lack of infrastructure, legal protections, and institutional capacity for safeguarding digital rights. Kate Finn, a citizen of the Osage Nation and executive director of the Tallgrass Institute, described opportunity spaces in AI for preserving Indigenous languages and strengthening governance systems.

She emphasized respecting free, prior, and informed consent before data center developments on Indigenous lands.

Finn stated that approaching AI from an Indigenous lens must account for both opportunities and protections of lands, resources, language, and culture. Bongo highlighted funding limitations for Sámi AI development, noting the need for state support from Norway, Finland, and Sweden to build capacity. He said Sámi AI developers exist but lack resources to create community-aligned models.

For externally funded projects, Indigenous peoples must retain majority control to avoid becoming minority partners. Ellis stressed that technology alone does not protect forests, but people do, with tools effective only when grounded in community governance. Communities must maintain sovereignty over data collection to advance priorities without undermining rights.

Ibrahim stated, 'AI becomes harmful when it is imposed without free, prior, and informed consent,' risking patterns of resource extraction and knowledge appropriation. Governments must prevent land-grabbing, water exploitation, and mining related to data centers and energy sources, respecting Indigenous rights and worldviews.

Ibrahim's study warns that AI can lead to exclusion or extraction of sensitive data, such as exposing sacred sites through drones or mapping without consultation.

These concerns underscore the need for culturally appropriate AI implementation.