“Indigenous languages often contain intricate systems of traditional ecological knowledge, encompassing valuable insights and practices related to environmental stewardship, sustainable resource management, and biodiversity conservation. Indigenous communities have developed profound understandings of their ecosystems over centuries, embedded in their languages. The loss of indigenous languages can result in the erosion of traditional ecological knowledge, jeopardizing sustainable practices and the protection of fragile ecosystems.” Isaac Christopher, L. (2023). A Right to Protect Indigenous Languages: A Threat Against Extinction.
Thus the aim is to create an Enabling environment in which through the use of Indigenous languages, indigenous communities directly contribute to biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, ecosystems management, land restoration, improving the marine and coastal environment, reducing natural hazards, preventing pollution, and managing water resources.
Challenges
Strategies
Support community biodiversity activities
Actions |
Actors |
|---|---|
| Revive traditional sustenance practices (crops, pesticides, husbandry, tracking, hunting and gathering, river) | |
| Create awareness on health and environmental benefits of traditional practices | |
| Translate, re-interpret and adapt existing biodiversity materials produced by non-Indigenous knowledge holders (national and international) | |
| Explore resilience practices in response to climate change |
Integrate Indigenous knowledge into environmental conservation management
Actions |
Actors |
|---|---|
| Training of environmental guards in traditional practices and technologies | Ministry |
| Develop tools and materials for environmental stewardship and conservation | |
| Support the co-creation of Ocean literacy materials integrating Indigenous knowledge |
Ensure Indigenous knowledge holder rights and economic benefits
Actions |
Actors |
|---|---|
| Support economical biodiversity activities | |
| Ensure benefit-sharing policy is enforced | |
| Ensure Intellectual property rights are enforced |
