About this book
This unique transdisciplinary publication is the result of collaboration between UNESCO's Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) programme, the United Nations University's Traditional Knowledge Initiative, the IPCC, and other organisations. Chapters, written by indigenous peoples, scientists and development experts, provide insight into how diverse societies observe and adapt to changing environments. A broad range of case studies illustrate how these societies, building upon traditional knowledge handed down through generations, are already developing their own solutions for dealing with a rapidly changing climate and how this might be useful on a global scale. Of interest to policy-makers, social and natural scientists, and indigenous peoples and experts, Indigenous Knowledge for Climate Change Assessment and Adaptation provides an indispensable reference for those interested in climate science, policy and adaptation.
Contents
Foreword
1. Indigenous knowledge for climate change assessment and adaptation: introduction Douglas Nakashima, Jennifer Rubis and Igor Krupnik
Part I. Knowing Our Weather and Climate:
2. Forest, reef and sea level rise in North Vanuatu: seasonal environmental practices and climate fluctuations in Island Melanesia Carlos Mondragón
3. Annual cycles in indigenous Northwestern Amazon: a collaborative research towards climate change Monitoring Aloisio Cabalzar
4. Indigenous knowledge in the time of climate change (with reference to Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia) Rosita Henry and Christine Pam
5. Local responses to variability and climate change by Zoque indigenous communities in Chiapas, Mexico María Silva Sánchez Cortés and Elena Lazos Chavero
6. Climate knowledge of Ch'ol farmers in Chiapas, Mexico Fernando Briones
Part II. Our Changing Homelands:
7. Indigenous forest management as a means for climate change adaptation and mitigation Wilfredo V. Alangui, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Kimaren Ole Riamit, Dennis Mairena, Edda Moreno, Waldo Muller, Frans Lakon, Paulus Unjing, Vitalis Andi, Elias Ngiuk and Sujarni Alloy
8. Indigenous knowledge, history and environmental change as seen by Yolngu people of Blue Mud Bay, Northern Australia Marcus Barber
9. Coping with climate: innovation and adaptation in Tibetan land use and agriculture Jan Salick, Anja Byg, Katie Konchar and Robbie Hart
10. Seasonal environmental practices and climate fluctuations in Island Melanesia: transformations in a regional system in Eastern Papua New Guinea Frederick H. Damon
11. Traditional knowledge and crop varieties as adaptation to climate change in SW China, the Bolivian Andes and Coastal Kenya Krystyna Swiderska, Hannah Reid, Yiching Song, Jingsong Li, Doris Mutta, Paul Ongugo, Mohamed Pakia, Rolando Oros and Sandra Barriga
Part III. Confronting Extreme Events:
12. Accounts from tribal elders: increasing vulnerability of the Navajo People to Drought and Climate Change in the Southwestern United States Margaret H. Redsteer, Klara Kelley, Harris Francis and Debra Block
13. The spirits are leaving: adaptation and the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua Mirna Cunningham Kain
14. Indigenous reindeer herding and adaptation to new hazards in the Arctic Svein D. Mathiesen, Mathis P. Bongo, P. Burgess, Robert W. Corell, Anna Degteva, Inger Marie G. Eira, Inger Hanssen-Bauer, Alvaro Ivanoff, Ole Henrik Magga, Nancy G. Maynard, Anders Oskal, Mikhail Pogodaev, Mikkel N. Sara, Dagrun Vikhamar Schuler and Ellen Inga Turi
15. 'Everything that is happening now is beyond our capacity' – Nyangatom livelihoods under threat Sabine Troeger
Part IV. Sources of Indigenous Strength and Resilience:
16. 'Normal' catastrophes or harbinger of climate change? Reindeer-herding Sami facing dire winters in Northern Sweden Marie Roué
17. Canaries of civilization: small island vulnerability, past adaptations and sea level rise Marjorie V. C. Falanruw
18. Peasants of the Amazonian-Andes and their conversations with climate change in the region of San Martin Rider Panduro
19. People of the whales: climate change and cultural survival among the Iñupiat of Arctic Alaska Chie Sakakibara
20. Indigenous knowledge for climate change assessment and adaptation: epilogue Igor Krupnik, Jennifer Rubis and Douglas Nakashima
Index
Customer Reviews
Biography
Douglas Nakashima is Chief of the Small Islands and Indigenous Knowledge section at United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), France. He created the global programme on Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) in 2002 that addresses the role of indigenous knowledge in environmental management, including climate change, and reinforces its intergenerational transmission. Dr Nakashima has been working within the field of indigenous knowledge for over thirty years, with research focusing on Inuit and Cree First Nations in Arctic and Subarctic Canada. He recently led UNESCO's work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to highlight the importance of indigenous knowledge for climate change assessment and adaptation in the Fifth Assessment Report.
Igor Krupnik is the Curator for Arctic Ethnology at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Trained as a cultural anthropologist and ecologist, Dr Krupnik has worked in polar indigenous communities, primarily in Alaska and the Bering Strait region. His area of expertise lies in modern cultures, indigenous ecological knowledge, and the impact of modern climate change on human life in the North. In 2012 he was awarded a medal from the International Arctic Science Committee for his work in building bridges among social and natural scientists and polar indigenous people.
Jennifer T. Rubis is the coordinator for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Climate Frontlines project, focusing on indigenous knowledge in relation to climate change. She is also a native Dayak from Sarawak in Borneo, and is descended from a line of Jagoi shamans and priestesses. She is a strong advocate of community organising and the inclusion of indigenous perspectives in decision making. For over ten years she has worked on forest and environmental issues within United Nations agencies and in civil society organisations at the international, national and community level.
Contributors:
- Douglas Nakashima
- Jennifer Rubis
- Igor Krupnik
- Carlos Mondragón
- Aloisio Cabalzar
- Rosita Henry
- Christine Pam
- María Silva Sánchez Cortés
- Elena Lazos Chavero
- Fernando Briones
- Wilfredo V. Alangui
- Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
- Kimaren Ole Riamit
- Dennis Mairena
- Edda Moreno
- Waldo Muller
- Frans Lakon
- Paulus Unjing
- Vitalis Andi
- Elias Ngiuk
- Sujarni Alloy
- Marcus Barber
- Jan Salick
- Anja Byg
- Katie Konchar
- Robbie Hart
- Frederick H. Damon
- Krystyna Swiderska
- Hannah Reid
- Yiching Song
- Jingsong Li
- Doris Mutta
- Paul Ongugo
- Mohamed Pakia
- Rolando Oros
- Sandra Barriga
- Margaret H. Redsteer
- Klara Kelley
- Harris Francis
- Debra Block
- Mirna Cunningham Kain
- Svein D. Mathiesen
- Mathis P. Bongo
- P. Burgess
- Robert W. Corell
- Anna Degteva
- Inger Marie G. Eira
- Inger Hanssen-Bauer
- Alvaro Ivanoff
- Ole Henrik Magga
- Nancy G. Maynard
- Anders Oskal
- Mikhail Pogodaev
- Mikkel N. Sara
- Dagrun Vikhamar Schuler
- Ellen Inga Turi
- Sabine Troeger
- Marie Roué
- Marjorie V. C. Falanruw
- Rider Panduro
- Chie Sakakibara
