Emerging resource sustainability challenges increasingly impact Indigenous communities in Amazonia. Despite significant progress in securing land rights and the critical role Indigenous territories play in preserving forest cover, issues such as wildlife depletion, forest impoverishment, and land scarcity have been documented in specific settlements. The prospect of land scarcity is particularly concerning, as research suggests it may lead to problematic land system transitions, jeopardizing traditional Indigenous land management practices that have sustained anthropic forest landscapes in the Amazon. This paper examines factors and processes associated with rising land scarcity among Indigenous territories in the Peruvian Amazon. Results reveal the critical role of territorial enclosure in producing land scarcity, framing it as an issue of Indigenous land rights rather than land management. This study contributes to our understanding of resource sustainability challenges faced by Amazonian Indigenous communities and highlights the importance of addressing land rights to maintain effective forest conservation practices.
