Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change

The impacts of climate change on Indigenous Peoples and the knowledge we possess on the environment are important research issues for the 21st Century.

For Maori , the range of environments occupied, from urban to remote rural districts mean widespread risk exacerbated the vulnerability of ‘life-line’ services (roads, buildings, flood-plain protection, urban storm-water systems) and the fact —many Maori land blocks are on ‘marginal’ land – close to waterways, flood-plains, coastal areas. Also, given many of our communities have negligible or no insurance adds up to a growing problem as indicated by the increased weather extremes we're experiencing.

This video (link courtesy of Dr. William James Smith, Jr. Assistant Research Professor at the Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies, UNLV) gives a nice overview of some initiatives in Nevada.

http://youtu.be/3BU4xaIHJE8

An important report is by King, D., Penny, G., & Severne, C. (2010). The climate change matrix facing Maori society. In R. Nottage, D. Wratt, J. Bornman & K. Jones (Eds.), Climate Change Adaption in New Zealand: Future scenarios and some sectoral perspectives (pp. 100-111). Wellington: New Zealand Climate Change Centre/NIWA.