The Earth Shield

A Planetary Framework

Indigenous Peoples' Plan for Planetary Regeneration

Indigenous-led regeneration of Earth's vital territories — a planetary framework born from the Earth Elders Council and the Original Peoples of the 52 bio-cultural territories.

The Plan

A living plan, carried by those who have always carried the Earth.

The Indigenous Peoples' Plan for Planetary Regeneration (IPPPR) is a long-horizon framework convened by the Earth Elders Council to restore the ecological and cultural integrity of the planet's most vital territories. It is not a blueprint imposed from above — it is a weaving of mandates, protocols, and place-based commitments authored by Indigenous knowledge keepers themselves.

At its heart is a simple recognition: the lands, waters, and species most essential to planetary life are, almost without exception, the ancestral territories of Original Peoples. Their return to full stewardship is the most direct, scientifically grounded path to planetary regeneration.

What the Plan holds

Five threads, one shared horizon.

52 Bio-Cultural Territories

A planetary map of the regions whose ecological and cultural integrity is essential to the health of the whole — each engaged on its own terms.

Indigenous-led Stewardship

Decision-making, design, and governance held by the Original Peoples of each territory, in council with their elders and traditional authorities.

Bioculture & Bioeconomies

Restoration of the inseparable weave of land, language, knowledge, and species — and the regenerative livelihoods that sustain them.

Place-based Regeneration

Each of the 52 initiatives is engaged after listening deeply to the needs of community and land — a response to place, never a template.

Indigenous Knowledge Systems

Honoring traditional ecological knowledge as the foundational science of regeneration — the time-tested wisdom that has sustained Earth's most biodiverse territories across generations.

The Map

52 Bio-Cultural Territories

The Earth's living surface can be read as 52 bio-cultural territories — each a unique weave of ecosystem, climate, language, ceremony, and ancestral knowledge. The Earth Shield's work is to ensure each one of these territories holds a sovereign, Indigenous-led regeneration and protection strategy within this generation.

This is not a cookie-cutter approach.

Each of the 52 initiatives is shaped by listening deeply to the elders and communities of place. Every project emerges as a response to specific bio-cultural needs — to the land, the traditional guardians, their language, their unique ancient cultures, and the more-than-human life they steward. No two territories are alike, and no two strategies will be either.

Map of the Earth's 52 Bio-Cultural Territories with numbered markers
The Earth's 52 Bio-Cultural Territories · adapted from One Earth's bioregional framework

The 52 Territories

  1. 01Arctic Tundra & Polar Sea
  2. 02Greenland Ice Realm
  3. 03Pacific Northwest Coast
  4. 04Boreal Cordillera
  5. 05Great Bear Rainforest
  6. 06Hudson Bay Lowlands
  7. 07Subarctic Atlantic
  8. 08Beringian Steppe
  9. 09Canadian Boreal Shield
  10. 10Alaskan Yukon Forests
  11. 11Rocky Mountain West
  12. 12Pacific Coast & Sierras
  13. 13California Floristic Province
  14. 14Great Plains Grasslands
  15. 15Eastern Temperate Forests
  16. 16Mesoamerican Highlands
  17. 17Caribbean Islands
  18. 18Central American Isthmus
  19. 19Amazonian Lowlands
  20. 20Atlantic Forest
  21. 21Andean Cloud Forests
  22. 22Cerrado & Pantanal
  23. 23Coastal Brazil & Caatinga
  24. 24Patagonian Steppe
  25. 25Tierra del Fuego
  26. 26British & Irish Isles
  27. 27Fennoscandia
  28. 28Baltic Forests
  29. 29Iberian Peninsula
  30. 30Central European Forests
  31. 31Mediterranean Basin
  32. 32Anatolia & Caucasus
  33. 33Sahara & Sahel
  34. 34West African Savannas
  35. 35Nile Basin
  36. 36Horn of Africa
  37. 37Guinean Rainforests
  38. 38Congo Basin
  39. 39East African Rift
  40. 40Southern African Savannas
  41. 41Madagascar
  42. 42Eurasian Steppe
  43. 43Siberian Taiga
  44. 44Russian Far East
  45. 45Tibetan Plateau & Himalaya
  46. 46Indian Subcontinent
  47. 47Mainland Southeast Asia
  48. 48Sundaland
  49. 49Wallacea
  50. 50New Guinea & Melanesia
  51. 51Australian Continent
  52. 52Aotearoa & South Pacific

The Earth Shield's Role

The Earth Shield is the financial vessel of the Plan.

The Earth Shield Fund channels capital, partnerships, and long-term commitment into the territories named within the IPPPR — beginning with the launch projects in the Amazon, Mexico, and a forthcoming African bio-cultural territory. Every flow of resource is guided by the protocols of the Council and the consent of the peoples whose lands are stewarded.

See the Launch Projects The Five Earth Mandates