Deep in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest, indigenous leader Marcelo Lucitante deftly climbs a tree and attaches a camera, camouflaged among the foliage, to record footage of trespassing illegal gold miners.

"We monitor who's entering our territory without our permission. We're protecting our territory and rivers from people who want to cause damage," says the member of Ecuador's first uniformed and tech-backed indigenous guard, set up by the A'i Cofan people.

Armed with wooden spears, radios, drones and - most importantly - high-court legal decisions ruling they have not been given enough of a say over what happens on their land, Ecuador's indigenous people are stepping up efforts to protect their forests - a move that is also helping defend nature and the Earth's climate.

"Our fight is that our rights are respected," Waorani indigenous leader Silvana Nihua told our correspondent Anastasia Moloney, after the group won legal backing to block oil drilling on 440,000 hectares of Waorani land.

Efforts to better conserve at-risk nature got another bit of good news this week when the long-delayed COP15 biodiversity summit - originally scheduled for 2020 in Kunming, China, and repeatedly delayed - was shifted to the Canadian city of Montreal in December, after China's strict COVID-19 protocols blocked a 2022 Kunming gathering.

At the upcoming meeting, about 195 nations aim to finalise a much-needed new global deal to tackle growing global harm to plants, animals and ecosystems.

"It's critical for our governments to set and reach ambitious targets to stop and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 - and scheduling COP15 for this year is an essential first step," said Tom Crowther, an ETH Zurich ecology professor.

Lead-up talks start today in Nairobi - and our correspondent Nita Bhalla takes a look at how conservation efforts are going in the Mara Siana Conservancy in western Kenya.

What makes a good initiative that really benefits nature?

Corporations around the world are backing efforts to plant or protect carbon-absorbing trees as a form of ethical investing. But some investments are effective - and some are effectively "greenwashing", experts told our correspondent Jennifer Ann Thomas, who visited a small Brazilian acai project.

"Funding for communities is not bad, but that doesn't make up for the negative impact that the company may be having on the environment," warned Gustavo Pinheiro at Brazil's Institute for Climate and Society.

Looking for some more positive news? Don't miss our short video on how women are helping lead the switch to electric vehicles in India.

See you next week!

Laurie

Disappointing U.N. climate talks leave 'huge task' for COP27 Egypt summit
Developing countries were especially upset by a lack of concrete progress on setting up a fund to help them deal with rising losses and damage driven by climate change

Forests or business - who wins when companies pay to protect trees?
A rise in companies sponsoring small Amazon conservation projects has some climate experts warning about a wave of greenwashing

U.N. nature summit set for Montreal as COVID-hit China steps aside
The COP15 conference, which is due to agree a new global deal to protect biodiversity, has been postponed several times as host nation China grapples with the pandemic

Corn price hike forces Mexicans to cut back on tortillas
A surge in the cost of corn-based Latin American staples such as tortillas, tamales and arepas risks fueling food insecurity and hunger from Guatemala to Argentina, experts say

Crunch UN talks face pressure to land global nature pact in 2022
Amid slow progress, negotiations are taking place in Nairobi, aimed at sealing a new global deal to protect biodiversity, at the COP15 summit in December

'Love Island' dumps fast fashion for second-hand eBay partnership
Season eight of ITV's reality dating show 'Love Island' is backing away from fast fashion tie-ups in a bid to promote more sustainable shopping. Will it work?

OPINION: Confronting the new carbon bomb in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia has chosen its path away from coal but that was not the end of the story