August 9 is observed as the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. It is a day that is aimed at raising awareness about the indigenous populations around the globe; educating people about indigenous people’s rights. Indigenous people make up around 6.2% of the world’s population. Over 476 million people reside in 90 countries across the globe.
According to statistical observation, around 80% of the world’s biodiversity is inhabited and protected by indigenous populations. Their culture, lifestyle, and activities are integral to the sustenance of our environment and vice versa.
Their innate, diverse knowledge about lands, nature, and its development are extremely crucial to ensure the protection of the critical ecosystem, natural resources.
Hence they are a key figure in environment conservation as they play vital roles in the development, management and protection of natural spaces and ecosystem.
On the occasion of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, let’s find out how the indigenous people aid in protecting the environment:
Ecosystem Restoration:
Indigenous people have proved to be crucial stewards of our environment and its rapidly depleting resources. They shield the region they inhabit against trespassers, illegal encroachments, and in the process safeguard nature from deforestation, mega-dams across rivers, mining in the forest, waterlogging man-made damaging consequences. In short, indigenous people uphold the tradition of conservation.
Aid with traditional knowledge:
Indigenous people are the ideal ‘custodians’ of the ecosystem. They have a deep-rooted connection to the surrounding environment that they inhabit. The Paris agreement on climate change recognised in their preamble this fundamental, inherent bond that exists between indigenous people and nature. Their heritage, knowledge aid in environmental assessments, and creating sustainable solutions to manage the ecosystem. For example, with their help Hawaii’s native fish pond was retrieved, a conservation corridor was established in Suriname. This is why the UN ensures that they are included in the decision-making and management of ecosystems.
Warriors to prevent global climate change:
Their time-tested, age-old agricultural practices do not cause harm to nature. Such methods are resilient to climate change. For instance, the technique of terracing prevents soil erosion, or the practice of creating floating gardens out of flooded fields, or their approach to fighting forest fires (with the ancient understanding of early-burning) are extremely environment-friendly approaches and are suited to deal with extremes of temperature. In this process, they conserve, restore forests and natural resources.
Indigenous foods are resilient to climate change:
The crops grown by indigenous people are highly adaptable. They can survive drought, altitude, flooding, and any kind of extremes of temperature. As a result, these crops help create resilient farms. Also, quinoa, moringa, oca are some of the native crops that have the ability to expand and diversify our food base. These would contribute to the goal to attain Zero Hunger.
Indigenous people’s way of life help retain fossil fuel in the ground:
They respect the environment and are ideal conservationists of our natural resources. Their way of thinking, lifestyle, culture help provide a global solution. They believe that petroleum is the blood of their ancestors. They aim at alleviating global dependence on fossil fuels and promote non-petroleum alternatives.
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