This just in from a reader. Since one of the concerns of this Web site is global warming and climate change, we pass this information on for your information (FYI).
GW
By Jack Reeves
Using thermometers and gas-measuring devices, scientists say the Earth’s climate is warming.
Indigenous people, observing animal behavior and how some taste, agree.
Both have compelling evidence that the Earth is changing; both perspectives are needed to address the impact.
In September, indigenous people from around the world will meet in Zaragoza, Spain, to discuss with scientists how climate change is affecting their cultures and how traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) can help address it.
The Earth in Transition Conference, funded by the California-based Christensen Fund, is sponsored by the Society for Ecological Restoration International, in Tucson, Arizona.
More than 1,000 environmental restoration professionals will attend; TEK experts will have opportunities to network, educate, and share resources.
Experts will include 100 indigenous leaders from the Arctic and Subarctic regions; Africa, Central Asia, and Australia; the South Pacific\Indian Ocean islands, South and Central America, and the Caribbean.
The conference will involve indigenous people in research and help identify local problems connected to specific climate-changing causes.
“The purpose of Earth in Transition is to facilitate a meaningful, face-to-face dialogue not only among TEK experts but between TEK practitioners and climate-change experts who use Western scientific models,” says Dennis Martinez, founder and chair of the Indigenous Peoples’ Restoration Network (IPRN). “Many Western science practitioners are not aware of the rich knowledge base of TEK in this area.”
Environmental changes have a great impact on indigenous people, many of whom have a strong relationship with the world around them, relying on hunting, fishing, herding and gathering for sustenance. As the environment changes, entire cultures are affected.
Global climate change is being felt most severely in the Arctic and appears certain to cause enormous environmental problems worldwide.
How severe are the changes?
* For the first time, Northerners are being sunburned.
* Skin cancer is becoming a growing concern.
* West Nile Virus, transmitted by mosquitoes, is expected to soon make it to the Yukon.
* Ground thawing, where it has never occurred before, will disrupt buildings, airports, homes, and
accessibility to certain areas via winter ice roads.
* Increasing exposure to severe storms is causing coastal erosion.
* Animal habitat and biological diversity are being seriously affected.
Martinez points to the increasing rate of species extinction.
Recently, loss of the Atlantic cod and Arctic musk ox have brought more attention to peoples who depend daily and directly on their immediate environment and consequently have an unsurpassed knowledge of ecological shifts.
“So it is not so surprising that scientists have become interested in long-term and detailed environmental information which is the product of the observations of uncounted generations of native peoples in one place,” Martinez said.
Indigenous cultures have preserved primary knowledge about climate change and how to address it. Their knowledge combined with the knowledge of Western scientists can help the field develop a more holistic and penetrating understanding about the impacts of climate change on the Earth and its inhabitants, Martinez believes.
Mark Nuttall of the University of Alberta and lead author on the groundbreaking Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) project echoes these views. He too believes that researchers can’t rely only on their own observations to document change.
Indigenous people, he said, have “very compelling observations and insights,” documenting changes in weather, the behavior of animals, “and also the very taste of certain animals.”
Environmental changes have a great impact on indigenous people, many of whom have a strong relationship with the world around them, relying on hunting, fishing, herding and gathering for sustenance. As the environment changes, entire cultures are affected.
Nuttall noted that the Inuit word for weather is the same word for intellect and consciousness.
“Change in climate is felt in a very deep, personal way, making it an issue of cultural survival.”
The Earth in Transition Conference is the continuation of a long-term effort by SER to facilitate the integration of TEK in the Western-science dominated field of environmental restoration.
Martinez summarizes the conference’s objectives.
“IPRN supports ecocultural diversity by promoting a mutually beneficial working relationship between Western science and TEK. We must learn once again how to be caregivers to the land, to participate with our elder brothers and sisters, the plants and animals, in the spiritual and physical renewal of the Earth and of ourselves,” he said.
Collaborating organizations include The Manitou Institute/Earth Restoration Corps, Ecotrust, Inuit Circumpolar Conference Arctic Council, Pacific Environment, Indigenous Environmental Network, Alaska Native Science Commission, and the Indigenous Peoples’ Restoration Network (IPRN).
Contact: Mary Kay Lefevour, executive director
E-mail: MKL@ser.org
Phone: 520-622-5485
Jack Reeves
E-mail: LakeOconee@aol.com
706-453-45198
