Progress towards Aichi Target 10 is being made both through the direct efforts by IPLCs on the ground and through their contributions at the international level. On the ground, IPLCs are working to reduce anthropogenic pressures on vulnerable ecosystems through sustainable management and through the protection of community conserved areas. Internationally, they are pressing for measures to enable the implementation of key climate change mitigation and adaptation actions.
Customary rules and strategies to conserve and sustainably manage vulnerable ecosystems
There is growing international recognition that communities’ traditional knowledge and customary sustainable use practices not only increase ecosystems’ resilience to climate change (see also Target 15), but also protect the integrity and functioning of vulnerable ecosystems:
- Traditional aquatic resource management systems: The Pagu and Gua communities in Indonesia practise Sasi (customary aquatic resource management) to protect and maintain mangroves through zoning and implementation of “no-access zones” based on traditional knowledge. They also use marine biodiversity and traditional resource-harvesting inventories to avoid over-exploitation and to monitor overharvesting by fishing companies and pollution from mining. Similar traditional water resource management systems are practised by other indigenous communities. These include Tagal by indigenous Kadazan and Dusun communities in Sabah, Malaysia; Lue Tee by the Karen in northern Thailand, and Achaluwa by the Lisu communities, also in northern Thailand.(For further examples, see Target 6)
- Enhancing the resilience of vulnerable ecosystems through traditional cultivation practices: Traditional cultivation practices can serve as natural barriers and shields against climate change-induced natural disasters. For example, Dusun communities, indigenous to Sabah, Malaysia, use mixed planting of cassava and bamboo species to stabilise areas that are prone to landslide, and systematic planting of banana trees as natural fire breaks to reduce risks from droughts. Similarly, Gura communities in Indonesia increase the resilience of coastal areas by means of systematic mangrove cultivation, and through restoration work, building drainage systems and Talud wave breakers, based upon their traditional knowledge.
- Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact. Local Actions: Solutions to Global Challenges Initiatives of Indigenous Peoples in Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction Based on Traditional Knowledge. at <http://aippnet.org/local-actions-solutions-to-global-challenges/>
The important role of Locally-Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs) in conserving coral reefs and other vulnerable ecosystems
Empowering IPLCs to manage fisheries sustainably is a key action to enhance progress towards this target. A comparison between marine national parks and co-managed reserves and traditionally managed coral reefs in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea found that traditional management regimes, none of which involved permanent reef closure, were more effective at conserving reef fish. The research suggested that management regimes designed to meet community goals achieved greater compliance and conservation success than regimes primarily designed for biodiversity conservation. Many communities enforce Locally-Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs), which enable community-based adaptive management based on traditional knowledge (see case study “Vueti Navakavu: A success story from Fiji” for an example). Communities also take actions to engage in monitoring and addressing external pressures, such as overfishing in coral reefs and coastal areas. For example in many Pacific Small Island Developing States, local communities practising traditional management of coastal resources have been instrumental in improving coastal fisheries by restricting the access of outsiders seeking to exploit coastal resources commercially.
Tools for community-based impact assessments and adaptation strategies to ensure sustainable management of vulnerable ecosystems in the face of climate change
Because of climate change, many IPLCs will have to adapt their strategies for management and conservation of vulnerable ecosystems. Case study “Identifying impacts and threats to vulnerable ecosystems in Guna Yala, Panama” describes an initiative by the Guna in Panama to better understand climate change impacts on their territory. Some wider initiatives providing tools to help IPLCs manage vulnerable ecosystems in the face of climate change are as follows:
- A toolkit developed by the Indigenous Peoples’ Biocultural Climate Change Assessment Initiative (IPCCA) for IPLCs to perform local assessments of climate change impacts and develop strategies for enhancing resilience (see also Target 15).
- LEAP (Local Early Action Planning) tools, such as the LEAP guide developed by the Coral Triangle Initiative, can provide guidance on the use of information on the local climate history, climate change projections, and information from field-based threat and vulnerability assessments in order to mobilise communities to develop and implement adaptation action plans in order to increase socio-ecological resilience.
Traditional early warning, risk prevention, and monitoring systems
Monitoring of vulnerable ecosystems and the early identification of risks and problems is vital in order for timely action to be taken to protect and restore the integrity and functioning of ecosystems. For example the Tangkuhl community in North-east India is able to predict droughts and types of rain based on their traditional knowledge of specific weather patterns and animal behaviour. Similarly in Laos, K’Hmu and Puan communities have developed their own flood monitoring systems based on their traditional knowledge. Communities’ monitoring systems based on traditional ecological knowledge also contribute to understanding of climate change impacts and improving climate change projections. The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) considers the integration of indigenous and local knowledge in participatory scenario development as a critical foundation for explorations of future scenarios.
International IPLC actions to reduce pressures on vulnerable ecosystems impacted by climate change
Inappropriate climate mitigation and adaptation policies stand to increase communities’ vulnerability to climate change, and effective safeguards need to be in place to ensure that adaptation and mitigation actions respect the knowledge and rights of IPLCs. The International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC), a caucus of IPLC representatives, has been raising these issues through their contributions to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Other key issues raised by the IIPFCC at the international level include the need to keep reserves of oil and gas on communities’ lands and territories in the ground, and the important role that traditional knowledge plays in adapting to climate change.
