THEME 2
WAYS OF KNOWING: TK, CONTEMPORARY KNOWLEDGE AND DECISION-MAKING
Jump to topic: News Items | Conferences, Meeting Outcomes & Declarations | Research, Reports & Local observations
News Items
Satellite Snow Maps Help Reindeer Herders Adapt To A Changing Arctic
Science Daily | 2009-04-10
Arctic reindeer herders are facing the challenges of adapting to climate change as a warmer Arctic climate makes it harder for herds to find food and navigate. To help them adapt, the ESA-backed Polar View initiative is providing them with
satellite-based snow maps.
Keywords: arctic, technology transfer
Minister Prentice Highlights Progress Made at Polar Bear Roundtable
MSNBC | 2009-01-30
Summary: Canada’s Environment Minister, the Honourable Jim Prentice, issued a statement at the conclusion of the Polar Bear Roundtable in Winnipeg, noting that “… the wealth of knowledge and advice shared during the roundtable will help define what we need to do to protect this majestic animal.” A key outcome was the strong commitment to integrate Inuit traditional knowledge and science to build a better understanding about the changing environment and polar bear.
Keywords: arctic, tundra, traditional knowledge
REDD: Even at a conceptual stage indigenous peoples should be involved - Interview with Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
REDD Monitor | 2009-01-13
Summary: In an interview to REDD Monitor, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UNPFII Chair, noted that “since REDD is still being designed, indigenous peoples should endeavour to contribute to the design to ensure that their customary laws and practices on forest governance and management and their traditional knowledge in forest management are integrated as part of REDD.
Keywords: forests, traditional knowledge, environmental stewardship
Indigenous insights help save coral reefs
ABC Australia | 2008-12-20
Summary: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s first official act on taking office just over a year ago, was to ratify the Kyoto protocol on climate change. That was swiftly followed with an historic apology to Aborigines for past injustices. The Australian leader’s actions were warmly welcomed in Queensland where Indigenous knowledge is helping scientists at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority manage the world’s biggest coral reef system. And further afield in the Pacific, the scientific community’s working more closely with Indigenous stakeholders whose input, it’s now recognised, is crucial if coral reefs are to survive the expected ravages of climate change.
Keywords: pacific, traditional knowledge, environmental stewardship, marine
Indigenous Groups Win Major Battle in Congress in Peru
IPS News (Milagros Salazar) | 2008-08-22
Summary: The Peruvian Congress voted Friday to repeal two decrees that opened up communally owned native lands to private investment and that triggered a wave of protests this month by indigenous people in Amazon jungle provinces.
Keywords: latin america, forests, decision-making
Conferences, Meeting Outcomes & Declarations
Incorporating Traditional Knowledge to Improve Adaptation Planning
Conservation International, Indigenous Peoples’ of Africa Coordinating Committee, Oxfam International | 2004-04-01
Summary: Webcast of a side event on the incorporation of Traditional Knowledge into adaptation planning that Conservation International is hosting in collaboration with the Indigenous Peoples’ of Africa Coordinating Committee and Oxfam International.
Keywords: adaptation, traditional knowledge
Nepal: First Sharing Meeting on Indigenous Peoples Rights on Climate Change
IIPFCC Asia | 2009-02-14
Summary: This is the outcome from a meeting held on 14 February 2009 in Kathmandu, Nepal, to which all Nepali IP representatives from respective organisations, federations, layer associations, media groups, journalists and individuals were invited.
Keywords: Forests, traditional knowledge
Policies and Instruments for the Adaptation of Forests and the Forest Sector to Impacts of Climate Change as Indicated in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change National Reports
IUFRO | 2008-12-10
Summary: This IUFRO report on policies and instruments for the adaptation of forests and the forest sector to climate change notes that traditional knowledge should be drawn upon for adaptation strategies.
Keywords: Forests, traditional knowledge
Global Indigenous Peoples Consultation on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation
Tebtebba and United Nations University (UNU-IAS) | 2008-11-14
Summary: Participants at the Global Indigenous Peoples Consultation on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) held from 12 to 14 November 2008 in Baguio City, Philippines, adopted an Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities’ Global Strategy on REDD. The strategy makes reference to a number of overarching principles, including a human-rights approach to all REDD activities on the basis of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples in REDD activities. It also stresses the need to distinguish between reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation as a goal that interests all climate change stakeholders including indigenous peoples (redd) and the use of term REDD to signify possible future policies and instruments designed to achieve this goal.
Keywords: redd, forests, food security, environmental stewardship, traditional knowledge
Tamaynut, IPACC & Conservation International pan-African indigenous peoples’ consultative conference on Climate Change: Adaptation and Mitigation
IPACC | 2008-11-10
Summary: Indigenous peoples’ representatives from twelve African countries, representing hunter-gatherers, nomadic herders and oasis dwellers ended a four day conference in Marrakech, Morocco with a firm commitment to greater engagement with international and national policy forums on climate change.
Keywords: Africa, food security, environmental stewardship, traditional knowledge
Pre-Columbian Urbanism, Anthropogenic Landscapes, and the Future of the Amazon
Science (Michael J. Heckenberger) | 2008-08-29
Summary: The archaeology of pre-Columbian polities in the Amazon River basin forces a reconsideration of early urbanism and long-term change in tropical forest landscapes. We describe settlement and land-use patterns of complex societies on the eve of European contact (after 1492) in the Upper Xingu region of the Brazilian Amazon. These societies were organized in articulated clusters, representing small independent polities, within a regional peer polity. These patterns constitute a “galactic” form of prehistoric urbanism, sharing features with small-scale urban polities in other areas. Understanding long-term change in coupled human-environment systems relating to these societies has implications for conservation and sustainable development, notably to control ecological degradation and maintain regional biodiversity.
Keywords: latin america, forests, traditional knowledge, environmental stewardship
Tribal College Forum VII: Climate Crisis and Water Nations are calling for an awakening
American Indian and Alaska Native Climate Change Working Group and Native View Inc | 2008-08-14
Summary: This year’s conference covered topics including: water quality, processes, erosion, flooding, surficial processes, severe weather events, ice, coastal erosion, and water supply. The conference incorporated the traditional knowledge of elders, science knowledge of scientists, and optimistic views from the students in the field.
Keywords: North America, traditional knowledge, arctic
Indigenous Communities, tourism and Biodiversity Workshop Series: New Information and Web-based technologies: Island workshop
Convention on Biological Diversity | 2008-05-11
Summary: The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity is organizing a series of workshops on new information and web-based technologies within indigenous communities. The workshop series aims to support the management of biodiversity-friendly tourism activities, the web-based capacity of indigenous tourism operators, and the marketing of the culturally and biologically sustainable aspects of indigenous tourism products. The workshops are also intended to be fora for networking and exchange of information on specific challenges facing indigenous tourism This second workshop of the series, focusing on islands, took place in Apia, Samoa, between 3-5 November 2008. One of the most useful results is a methodology to evaluate websites according to sustainability objectives defined through participative planning.
Keywords: traditional knowledge, tourism, marine, environmental stewardship
International expert meeting on responses to Climate change for indigenous and local Communities and the impact on their traditional Knowledge related to biological diversity - the Arctic region
Convention on Biological Diversity | 2008-03-28
Summary: Report of the CBD’s International expert meeting on responses to climate change for indigenous and local communities and the impact on their traditional knowledge related to biological diversity for the Arctic region, held in Helsinki, from 25-28 March 2008.
Keywords: traditional knowledge, arctic, tundra
Planning for Seven Generations: Indigenous and Scientific Approaches to Climate Change
The American Indian & Alaska Native Climate Change Working Group, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research | 2008-03-21
Summary: Planning for Seven Generations Conference approached climate change from two perspectives; one rooted in indigenous experiences and one born of present-day science. The overarching goal was to look for opportunities for the two perspectives to point to shared strategies for understanding, adapting to, and mitigating climate change, with a particular focus on American Indian Lands.
Keywords: Arctic, North America, traditional knowledge, adaptation
Research, Reports & Local observations
Sharing Knowledge: International Asessments of the value of Indigenous Knowledge to improve resilience to environmental change/climate change
Sharing Knowledge | 2009-03-17
Summary: These reports on Africa, the Arctic, Australia and the Pacific were prepared as a part of an international assessment of the value of Indigenous Knowledge to improve resilience to environmental change. Each report provides an up to date survey of the current use of Indigenous Knowledge for building resilience to environmental change and an assessment of whether some of these strategies might be transferable by bringing together key stakeholders from different regions to share their experiences and management approaches for the region indicated.
Keywords: Arctic, Pacific, Australia, Africa, traditional knowledge, resilience
Indigenous Perspectives on Climate Change: Australia 2
UNU-IAS | 2009-02-22
Summary: The UNU-IAS Traditional Knowledge Initiative presents a video brief from the perspective of a Kuku Nyungkal Aboriginal woman in Northern Australia and highlights the impacts of increased global temperatures on the Nyungkal country, including driving animals to higher altitudes and transforming previously flowing streams into quiet pools of stagnant water..
Keywords: Multimedia, Indigenous assessment, traditional knowledge, pacific, agriculture
Extreme Ice: On Thin Ice in the Bering Sea
Nova/PBS with Hott Production of Florentine Films and Clark Science Center at Smith College | 2009-02
Summary: Four short films about two communities – Yup’ik subsistence hunters on St. Lawrence Island and polar scientists aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy – and how they bear witness to the changes wrought by global warming in the northern Bering Sea.
Keywords: Multimedia, traditional knowledge, arctic, tundra
Agriculture at a Crossroads: The Global Report - Science and Technology Interational Assessment of Agriculture Knowledge
Island Press | 2009-01-31
Summary: This report decries the current tendency to emphasise agricultural research into variety improvement, biotechnology and productivity, saying such research ought to be redirected towards addressing social inequities and environmental problems. The report also recognises that indigenous knowledge has something to offer to agricultural progress. Under the direction of the lead authors, the IAASTD assessment has taken a rural development perspective. It suggests that by combining local and traditional knowledge with formal knowledge, the world can ensure that the footprint of agriculture on climate change is lessened.
Keywords: traditional knowledge, agriculture
Indigenous Perspectives on Climate Change: Australia 1
UNU-IAS / Kowanyama Aboriginal Land and Natural Resources Management Office (Australia) | 2009-01-31
Summary: The UNU-IAS Traditional Knowledge Initiative, in conjunction with the Kowanyama Aboriginal Land and Natural Resources Management Office, Cape York Peninsular, Australia, presents a video brief about the effects of climate change on Kowanyama, a coastal indigenous community in tropical Queensland, Australia. The short presentation is told from the perspectives of Kowanyama and highlights the impacts of rising sea levels on the community due to climatic global warming.
Keywords: Multimedia, Indigenous assessment, traditional knowledge, pacific, marine
Illuminating Voices: Survival Strategies (Videos)
Panos London | 2008
In southern Madagascar environmental change is pushing poor people even closer to the margins of survival. Two indigenous communities, the Antandroy and Antanosy share the experience of this environment through their own films and life stories, providing an insight into the realities of rural poverty and the coping strategies they have developed.
Keywords: adapatation
Tibetan Alpine Ethnobotany and Climate Change
Agrobiodiversity platform | 2008-11-17
Summary: Posted as an input to a web discussion to identify gaps and needs in agrobiodiversity and climate change research, this project focuses on the Tibetan community who perceive, adapt by becoming wine producers and mitigate the effects of climate change by practicing traditional conservation methods and managing land so to enhance organic matter in the soil.
Keywords: biodiversity, tk, asia, food security, grasslands
Coping with Climate Change: Old strategies to face new challenges
Climate Frontlines Forum | 2008-09-28
Summary: The knowledge and practices that small-island, indigenous and other vulnerable communities have accumulated to cope with past environmental unpredictability are a powerful resource for confronting global climate change. They serve as a springboard for community-level adaptation, bring recognition to local resilience and bolster community self-confidence. How is your community facing up to the challenge of climate change impacts?
Keywords: Indigenous assessment, traditional knowledge, adaptation
Ancient Earthmovers of the Amazon
Science (Charles C. Mann) | 2008-08-29
Summary: The forested western Amazon was once thought barren of complex human culture. But researchers are now uncovering enigmatic earthworks left by large, organized societies that once lived and farmed here.
Keywords: Latin America, traditional knowledge, forests
World Bank: Climate Profiteer
Sustainable Energy and Economy Network (Janet Redman) | 2008-04-10
Summary: After years of waning global influence, the World Bank has attached itself to the climate crisis like a patient on life support. Facing a crisis of legitimacy over its failed economic policy proscriptions and long track record of boondoggle projects, the aging institution is attempting to give itself a makeover. No longer is it just the Bank whose “dream is a world free of poverty.” Now it is the Bank that can solve the climate crisis. The facelift includes a $2 billion portfolio of trust funds that channel carbon finance – money used to buy cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from projects in developing countries – from polluting industrialized countries in the global North to some of the most ecologically destructive industries in the global South.
Keywords: redd, financing, decision-making
