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Tribes Could Play a Crucial Role in Achieving a Bold New Conservation Goal

An emerging effort to protect 30 percent of the country's land and water is an opportunity to strengthen tribal sovereignty and heed Indigenous ecological knowledge, experts say.

Displaced from the hills: Livelihoods of tribal communities in Eastern Ghats under threat

India’s forest-dwelling communities have since antiquity utilised various biodiversity elements in forests to augment their livelihoods and fortify their nutritional security. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the hilly region of the Eastern Ghats, spread along India’s east coast in Odi ...

In Brazil, an indigenous woman joins Bolsonaro in fight for mining

Irisnaide Silva is female, Brazilian and indigenous. And for once, in her view, she is being heard. For decades her family picked and panned the borderland near Venezuela, scouring the hills for diamonds and gold.

“Securing Indigenous guardianship of vital ecosystems”: Q&A with Nia Tero CEO Peter Seligmann

One of the dominant trends in conservation over the past 20 years has been growing recognition of the contributions Indigenous peoples have made toward conservationists’ goals of protecting biodiversity, wild places, and ecosystem functions.

The Limits of Eden

After two hours’ travel through driving rain, Lucio arrived in the village with his two wives and children aboard a raft, all soaked to the skin. Four weeks earlier, they had decided to leave their nomadic life in the high reaches of the River Comerjali, where hundreds of Machiguenga and Mashco- ...

Indigenous peoples face rise in rights abuses during pandemic, report finds

Indigenous communities in some of the world’s most forested tropical countries have faced a wave of human rights abuses during the Covid-19 pandemic as governments prioritise extractive industries in economic recovery plans, according to a new report.

Pay heed to indigenous peoples to tackle climate change

Around 370 million indigenous peoples live on 22% of the world’s land surface. This 22% holds 80% of the earth’s biodiversity. It is estimated that more than 20% of the carbon stored in forests is found in land managed by indigenous peoples. They are preserving vital carbon sinks that play a cri ...

The Caribou Guardians

HIGH ON A FORESTED MOUNTAIN in northern British Columbia, in the traditional territory of the West Moberly Dunne-za First Nations (WMFN) and Saulteau First Nations (SFN), Starr Gauthier is on patrol with a twelve-gauge shotgun slung over her shoulder and a laptop bag in hand. Starr is a Caribou ...

‘Indigenous People Respect All Species’

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is an environmental activist and member of Chad’s pastoralist Mbororo community who believes in twinning traditional knowledge with science to tackle ecosystem challenges.

Brazil flower-gatherers win acclaim: ‘Efficient, long-lasting, resilient’

For three centuries communities of “flower-gatherers” have lived self-reliantly in the Serra do Espinhaço, a mountain range bordering Brazil’s Cerrado savanna on its east. Many are descended from former slaves, but they’ve mingled with Indigenous and descendants of Portuguese migrants.

Traditional Fishers – The Unsung Heroes Of Ocean Conservation

Ocean conservation has too long marginalized the very people best placed to lead the most powerful change: traditional fishing communities. Alasdair Harris, founder of Blue Ventures, talks to Ashoka’s Pip Wheaton, about how empowering the people who know the ecosystems best provides a myriad of ...

Meet the Indigenous scientist charting the future of fisheries

Like most salmon scientists, Andrea Reid spends months each year searching for the iconic fish in salty estuaries and along the silty riverbanks of B.C.’s glacial torrents.

It’s time for an Indigenous voice in conservation

The time for dancing around Australia’s significant environmental challenges is over. Graeme Samuel, in his review of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act released on Thursday, didn’t mince words. Ineffective. Unacceptable. Continual decline. Piecemeal approach.

OPINION: We can’t tackle climate change without indigenous people

Last month, climate change advocates heaved a sigh of relief as President Joe Biden recommitted the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate change, fulfilling one of the major promises of his campaign within hours of his inauguration. The return to the Paris Agreement is an important, if ...

UK is helping indigenous communities in Peten to protect and use their ancient traditional medicine

The British Ambassador in Guatemala, Nick Whittingham, met with the Mayan Council of Indigenous Spiritual Leaders of the Southern Peten, ACGERS, who are using the benefits of ancient traditional medicine as part of a UK funded project.

Indigenous Peoples are critical to build a more sustainable post-pandemic world, says IFAD President

Indigenous Peoples have suffered disproportionately from the economic impacts of COVID-19, yet they hold essential knowledge for rebuilding a more sustainable and resilient post-pandemic world, free of poverty and hunger, said Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of the UN’s International Fund for Agri ...

Scientists must learn how to interact with Indigenous people

Last February, Jesus Rotieroke and I sat together chewing on our thoughts (in the form of coca-based mambe) after spending a sweltering day in the family chagra harvesting cassava and plantains.

Indigenous tribe that worships tigers helps protect the species

Spirituality isn't usually considered a factor in conservation efforts. But indigenous peoples who worship wildlife may be helping protect endangered species from extinction.

How indigenous food systems can help build resilience to impacts of COVID-19 pandemic

The impacts of COVID-19 are disproportionately devastating to indigenous peoples around the world. In many cases, their indigenous food systems have been a source of resilience. This is the focus of the biannual Indigenous Peoples’ Forum this year, where representatives from Indigenous Peoples’ ...

Salt making revives Fijian traditional knowledge

In December 2019, UNDP Fiji through the Accelerator Lab Pacific embarked on an experiment to understand the interplay between traditional knowledge, cultural identity and climate resilience. Our research indicated that resilient communities used traditional indigenous knowledge as a foundation f ...

Haribon: improved conservation can prevent pandemics

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic continues to put millions of lives around the world at risk, Haribon Foundation calls to address ecosystem disturbances linked to disease outbreaks and prevent future pandemics.

Indigenous Peoples Wary Of UN Biodiversity Rescue Plan

In 1872, Native Americans were violently evicted from what would become Yellowstone National Park As crunch UN talks to reverse the accelerating destruction of nature loom, indigenous peoples are sounding an alarm over proposed conservation plans they say could clash with their rights.

How To Solve Climate Change, According To The Bijagós Of Guinea-Bissau

The Bijagó are an ethnic group indigenous to the Bijagós archipelago, which belongs to the small nation of Guinea-Bissau on the West African Coast. They inhabit approximately 21 of the 88 islands, with the islets serving as spiritual grounds. Most of them exist at the margins of the economy, wit ...

Indegnious Seed, Food & Biodiversity Exibation, Karlamunda, Kalahandi

Farmers taken oath conserving indigenous and traditional seeds for future food and nutritional security.The Grampanchayt level Seed, Food & Biodiversity Exibition was held at Gajabahal and Joradobra GPs of Karlamunda block. In this exhibition farmers, youths, students, SHG members, PRI represent ...

Language, Landscape and Our World of Many Worlds

“In our faith there is no heaven or hell,” spoke Mayalmit Lepcha in the Janata Parliament – an Indian people’s parliament which happened online this year, on account of COVID-19. Her network is spotty. She’s in the mountains. I listen hard and try to piece together what she’s saying. Mayalmit is ...

From Brazil: Kiriri manioc flour Slow Food Presidium

The project Empowering Indigenous Youth and their Communities to Defend and Promote their Food Heritage, financed by IFAD, started in 2018 through an agreement between Slow Food, IFAD, and the Kiriri community of Banzaê.

Ribeirinhos win right to waterside Amazon homeland lost to Belo Monte dam

Some 40,000 people — mostly peasant farmers, fisherfolk, traditional families (living from the collection of forest products), Indigenous people, and ribeirinhos — were evicted to make way for the Belo Monte dam, constructed between June 2011 and November 2019.

On the frontlines of climate change, communities are using tech to keep tradition alive

Among the Inuit Nunangat communities in far northern Canada, there's a saying: If you smack the ice with your harpoon and it doesn't go through on the first hit, it's thick enough to walk on. If you can hit it three times without it breaking, it's good for snowmobiles. And if you can hit it five ...

How Adivasis of one Jharkhand village are trying to preserve ethnomedicine

Jana village is located in the Gumla district of Jharkhand. More than 90 per cent of its population is Adivasi or tribal. As such, most aspects of life here reflect Adivasi cultural and social mores. The old residents of the village recollect that their ancestors settled in the village centur ...

Rainforests are under siege but indigenous peoples could still save the Amazon

Five years ago, when leaders of 197 countries adopted the historic Paris Agreement on climate, they opened our rainforest homes for business. During negotiations, member states agreed to pull from the pact a brief reference to protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples, placing us instead in th ...

OPINION: The promise and reality of the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants

How can the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Peasants address the exclusion of – and discrimination against – rural communities worldwide?

An oil palm front advances on an Indigenous community in Peru

“The invasions do not stop, the deforestation does not stop, and the threats do not stop,” Iván Flores Rodríguez said by phone from the Indigenous Santa Clara de Uchunya community. A leader of the Shipibo people, Flores Rodríguez outlines the history of his community in the Peruvian Amazon, when ...

Global experts urge involvement of indigenous communities in biodiversity conservation

Multilateral institutions and governments should harness traditional knowledge, practices and innovations possessed by indigenous people in order to revitalize the biodiversity conservation agenda, experts said on Tuesday evening.

Indigenous fishing practices are needed to revive salmon fisheries

Salmon fisheries in the North Pacific are facing multiple challenges, including declining fish populations and climate variability. In a new study from the Portland-based Wild Salmon Center, scientists report that Indigenous fishing practices can help revitalize Pacific salmon fisheries.

Nature-based solutions by people of nature

The synergy between Nature-based Solutions and traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples can be an important tool for managing climate change.

Amazon community files lawsuit against Chinese firm over gas flaring

Indigenous Waorani from Ecuador's Amazon filed a lawsuit Thursday against state-owned Chinese oil company PetroOriental, accusing it of contaminating their ancestral lands by burning off natural gas from oil wells in a process known as flaring.

India: Bio-Piracy Of Traditional Knowledge From India

Traditional knowledge (TK) is knowledge system that is held by the indigenous people, often relating to their surrounding natural environment. When traditional knowledge is used without permission by the researchers, or exploit the cultures they're drawing from – it's called biopiracy.

River conservation by an Indigenous community

Rivers are a major source of renewable water, and provide food, jobs and a sense of place and cultural identity for people living in the vicinity. For many Indigenous peoples, rivers are central to how they understand themselves, their origins and their relationships to the rest of nature.

Aboriginal group urges mining 'reset' after ancient site destroyed

Aboriginal landowners have called for a "reset" in Australia's lucrative mining sector after an inquiry pilloried Rio Tinto for blowing up a 46,000-year-old heritage site to expand an iron ore mine.

Palm oil, coca and gangs close in on Colombia’s Indigenous Nukak Makú

A group of nomadic hunters who once lived deep in the Amazon is today on the brink of physical and cultural extinction. Though their tribal lands are designated as an Indigenous reservation, their forest was long the site of an armed conflict that plunged Colombia into a wave of violence for mor ...

Looking ahead to the 4th Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform Facilitative Working Group meeting

The third meeting of the Facilitative Working Group (FWG), which was the first official 2020 meeting of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform (LCIPP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, took place virtually between October 5 and 8.

Coronavirus: India's indigenous tribes find Covid-19 remedies in forests

A few weeks ago, Mukteshwar Kalo, a member of the Kondh tribe in eastern India, suddenly came down with a fever, cough and aches.Nearly anywhere else, these symptoms would be enough to raise fears of Covid-19, but 58-year-old Kalo, who lives in Surupa village in the state of Odisha, was not worried

The Place of African Traditional Medicine in Response to COVID-19 and Beyond

Mr. Martin Onyalo Odhiambo is a traditional herbal practitioner who handles herbal plants to help cure different ailments and diseases in human and animals. Based at the Medicinal Garden at the National Museum of Kenya in Nairobi, he works for Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health (TICAH) as a ...

Involving indigenous communities critical to achieving climate change targets

The world is continuously under threat due to climate change that has been occasioned by habitat loss and environmental degradation.

INTERVIEW-Indigenous wisdom protects forests, says prize-winning Myanmar activist

Tapping into indigenous knowledge and involving local communities are the best ways to protect forests and other natural resources to keep climate change in check, a prominent Myanmar activist said on Thursday. Paul Sein Twa, an indigenous Karen who two years ago established a 1.35 million acre ...

Statement by Ms. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, on the occasion of the opening of the Second Global Thematic Dialogue for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, Online, 1 December 2020

Statement by Ms. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, on the occasion of the opening of the Second Global Thematic Dialogue for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, Online, 1 December 2020

Second Global Thematic Dialogue for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

1 - 3 December 2020, Online

New study shows rights-based conservation as viable path to achieve global biodiversity agenda

With the UN, NGOs and conservationists advocating to place 30 per cent or more of the planet’s terrestrial area under formal conservation by 2030, a new study cautions of the potential costs of using exclusionary conservation approaches to meet those targets.

Protecting Indigenous Languages Is Protecting Biodiversity

One million animal and plant species face extinction due to human activity, according to the United Nations. Now, think about cultural production—art and literature that we have invested to address the extinction of just a handful of species (passenger pigeon included). Quite a bit actually. The ...