Indigenous and traditional peoples and climate change

Mar 2008

The purpose of this report is to help bridge the knowledge gap in understanding the present and future impacts of climate change on traditional and indigenous peoples. The report identifies options of adaptation to and mitigation of climate change based on the traditional knowledge of communities at risk, in order to reduce their vulnerability and to enhance their cultural resilience and adaptation capacity. Through this report, the authors aim to offer the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and its member and partner organizations some elements that will improve understanding of the potential impacts of climate change on traditional, vulnerable communities and cultures of the world and their associated ecosystems, and identify further research and knowledge required to contribute to risk reduction and appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies that take into account traditional knowledge and involve indigenous communities. The report particularly focuses on areas with high risk and potentially high socio-cultural impacts.
Climate change has critically changed the relevance of the traditional knowledge of indigenous groups. Natural signals that were used to trigger activities in the past are now less reliable. As the weather becomes hotter in the tropics, migratory birds come at a different period of the year and the rainy season comes earlier or later than usual, which can lead to a disorientation of people in their daily lives. Additionally, the need for more land to cultivate could also arise in the future due to climate change. For instance when droughts or declining soil fertility diminish crop yields, there may be a need to clear more forest areas and move to other places. Pressures on land from commercial agriculture, including biofuels, and carbon sequestration projects could also cause major land cover changes.

By: M. Macchi et al. (International Union for Conservation of Nature)

 
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