The impacts of climate change on the world’s indigenous people- Ashleigh

Indigenous communities are some of the first people to be experiencing the effects of climate change. This is because many indigenous groups depend on the natural environment for their way of life, and have a close relationship with their environment.  As such, these communities are often the first impacted by floods, droughts, and other extreme weather events. They are also some of the lowest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, as many indigenous peoples live in developing countries. However, indigenous peoples also have very limited access to the kinds of resources that would help them cope with a changing climate.

 

Despite being amongst the most severely impacted, indigenous peoples are rarely considered in the public climate change discussion, and are continuing to push for the right to participate in international decision-making. Indigenous communities are feeling the impact of changing climate world wide. Different communities experience different impacts, but climate change is touching all.

 

South America: The Kamayura of the Brazilian Amazon have already been severely affected by climate change. Their homeland, encompassed by the Xingu National Park, is now surrounded by farms and ranches. The fish stocks that the Kamayura relied on have plummeted due to higher water temperatures in jungle lakes, and rainfall has diminished because of increasing temperatures. The tribe has no transportation out of their homes deep within the jungle, and little money, to buy food to replace what they used to get from the land. Farming has also been a problem - the lack of water has killed many crops. Elders have compared the threat from the changing climate to that of the arrival of measles in the 1950s, when the disease wiped out 90% of their people.

 

Europe & the Arctic Circle: The Saami people live in northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia and survive by fishing, hunting and herding reindeer. Reindeer are an important part of the culture, food supply, and economy of the Saami communities. However, harsher winters have created hard ice crusts over the lichen that the reindeer dig through the snow to eat, which then caused a large loss of reindeer. The changing climate is also making frozen lakes unsafe as the ice is unreliable, which is forcing Saami herders to change herding routes they had used for generations. Have a look at this short video (only 1 minute and 6 seconds!) to hear a young Saami woman explain what the changing climate means for their way of life.

 

Africa: Traditionally the Maasai people have been pastoralists and nomadic cow-herders, both of which are at risk from the impacts of climate change in the Serengeti. The climate is becoming drier, with short rainy seasons, giving grass little time to grow, and the Maasai cow herds little to eat. Their nomadic lifestyle has become very limited by property rights, increasing populations, and national parks, which prevents the Maasai from moving to more suitable climates as past generations would have done.

North America: The National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Perry Bellegarde, has commented that indigenous peoples not only have rights, but responsibilities to the land and water. Eriel Deranger, a grassroots indigenous activist of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, discussed the historical lack of consultation by government with Aboriginal peoples regarding climate change policy at the Indigenous Peoples Meeting on Climate Change in January 2016. However, speaking at the UN Conference on World Climate Change in December 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear that his government would be turning to indigenous peoples for advice on properly caring for the environment.

 

Australia: There are hundreds of different nations, each with unique cultural practices, beliefs, and languages. However, traditional Owners are concerned that climate change will impact their totems, which are used to recognise different groups and are an important part of cultural identity. Totems can be represented by animals and plants, which may be affected by climate change. The Climate and Health Alliance has reported that indigenous Australians have shown higher risks of respiratory illnesses and emergency medical care from air pollution and heat waves, as well as high rates of mental illnesses related to losing lands and culture because of climate change. To find out more about what young indigenous people are doing to fight climate change in Australia, check out Seed, Australia’s first indigenous youth climate justice network.

 

Asia: The traditions, generational knowledge, and subsistence lifestyle of Orang Asli, the indigenous groups of Malaysia, are threatened by climate change. Orang Asli make up nearly 12% of Malaysia’s population - that’s 2.1 million people whose culture and livelihoods are at risk due to climate change. The Temiar people of eastern Malaysia are severely impacted by deforestation, which is itself an important cause of climate change, as well as by its immediate impacts. The Temiar have a deep respect for the natural environment, but their land rights are not usually acknowledged. Logging has reduced local water supplies, prevented hunting and gathering traditional medicines, and seen burial lands disturbed.

 

Across the globe, indigenous peoples are under threat from climate change. Food sources, health, and traditions are all at risk for cultures that have lasted longer than most of our countries. Share with us what you would like to see your government do to support indigenous communities in your country with the impacts of climate change. What would you like to see the world do to support all indigenous communities under threat from a changing climate?