Including indigenous and local knowledge in climate research: an assessment of the opinion of Spanish climate change researchers

Anthropogenic climate change is leading to widespread losses around the world. While the focus of research over the last decade has largely been on economic or tangible losses, researchers have begun to shift their focus to understanding the non-economic or intangible dimensions of loss more deeply. Loss of life, biodiversity and social cohesion are some of the losses that are beginning to be explored, along with Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) and cultural heritage. These latter two form the basis of this systematic review of 100 studies to take stock of what we know about climate-driven losses to ILK and cultural heritage, how such losses manifest and how they are overcome, revealing gaps in our knowledge and carving a path for future research.

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Cultivating Ice over Time: On the Idea of Timeless Knowledge and Places in the Himalayas

Anthropologica ◽

10.3138/anth.582.t03 ◽

1969 ◽

Vol 58 (2) ◽

pp. 193-210 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Karine Gagné

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Sense Of Community ◽

Local Knowledge ◽

Local Communities ◽

International Organisations ◽

Change Over Time ◽

Local Populations ◽

Close Study ◽

Indian Himalayas ◽

Over Time

Assumptions that local communities have an endogenous capacity to adapt to climate change stemming from time-tested knowledge and an inherent sense of community that prompts mobilisation are becoming increasingly common in material produced by international organisations. This discourse, which relies on ahistorical and apolitical conceptions of localities and populations, is based on ideas of timeless knowledge and places. Analysing the water-place nexus in Ladakh, in the Indian Himalayas, through a close study of glacier practices as they change over time, the article argues that local knowledge is subject to change and must be analysed in light of changing conceptions and experiences of place by the state and by local populations alike.

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Local Knowledge Ben Tre's Coastal on Resilience to Climate Change Background Study

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.3367754 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dai-Long Ngo-Hoang ◽

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Local Knowledge

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Projections of Local Knowledge-Based Adaptation Strategies of Mexican Coffee Farmers

Climate ◽

10.3390/cli9040060 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 60

Author(s):

Patricia Ruiz-García ◽

Cecilia Conde-Álvarez ◽

Jesús David Gómez-Díaz ◽

Alejandro Ismael Monterroso-Rivas

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Extreme Events ◽

Local Knowledge ◽

Production Systems ◽

Agroforestry Systems ◽

Southern Mexico ◽

Knowledge Based ◽

Coffee Farmers ◽

Extreme Hydrological Events ◽

Adaptation Policies

Local knowledge can be a strategy for coping with extreme events and adapting to climate change. In Mexico, extreme events and climate change projections suggest the urgency of promoting local adaptation policies and strategies. This paper provides an assessment of adaptation actions based on the local knowledge of coffee farmers in southern Mexico. The strategies include collective and individual adaptation actions that farmers have established. To determine their viability and impacts, carbon stocks and fluxes in the system’s aboveground biomass were projected, along with water balance variables. Stored carbon contents are projected to increase by more than 90%, while maintaining agroforestry systems will also help serve to protect against extreme hydrological events. Finally, the integration of local knowledge into national climate change adaptation plans is discussed and suggested with a local focus. We conclude that local knowledge can be successful in conserving agroecological coffee production systems.

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It’s Our Fault: A Global Comparison of Different Ways of Explaining Climate Change

Human Ecology ◽

10.1007/s10745-021-00229-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Schnegg ◽

Coral Iris O’Brian ◽

Inga Janina Sievert

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Local Knowledge ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

Point Of View ◽

Global Comparison ◽

Local Phenomenon ◽

World Regions ◽

Survey Results ◽

Specific Factors

AbstractInternational surveys suggest people increasingly agree the climate is changing and humans are the cause. One reading of this is that people have adopted the scientific point of view. Based on a sample of 28 ethnographic cases we argue that this conclusion might be premature. Communities merge scientific explanations with local knowledge in hybrid ways. This is possible because both discourses blame humans as the cause of the changes they observe. However, the specific factors or agents blamed differ in each case. Whereas scientists identify carbon dioxide producers in particular world regions, indigenous communities often blame themselves, since, in many lay ontologies, the weather is typically perceived as a local phenomenon, which rewards and punishes people for their actions. Thus, while survey results show approval of the scientific view, this agreement is often understood differently and leads to diverging ways of allocating meaning about humans and the weather.

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Exploring Indigenous and Local Knowledge and Practices (ILKPs) in Traditional Jhum Cultivation for Localizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A Case Study from Zunheboto District of Nagaland, India

Environmental Management ◽

10.1007/s00267-021-01514-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rajarshi Dasgupta ◽

Shalini Dhyani ◽

Mrittika Basu ◽

Rakesh Kadaverugu ◽

Shizuka Hashimoto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Local Knowledge ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Indigenous And Local Knowledge ◽

Development Goals

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Reply to Bridgewater (2021), 'Response to Davies et al., 'Towards a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Wetlands"

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf21132 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 72 (10) ◽

pp. 1401

Author(s):

G. T. Davies ◽

C. M. Finlayson ◽

E. Okuno ◽

N. C. Davidson ◽

R. C. Gardner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Indigenous Peoples ◽

Local Knowledge ◽

Local Communities ◽

Universal Declaration ◽

Legal Rights ◽

Indigenous And Local Knowledge ◽

Rights Of Nature ◽

Areas Of Concern ◽

Management Approaches ◽

Conservation And Management

We reply to the main concerns raised by Bridgewater (2021) in his response to Davies et al. (2021a), ‘Towards a Universal Declaration of the Rights of Wetlands’. We appreciate the contribution of Bridgewater (2021) to this emerging conversation and, although we disagree with some of his assessments and statements, we do not find his points to be incompatible with support for the Declaration of the Rights of Wetlands (ROW). This reply focuses on four areas of concern raised by Bridgewater (2021). First, we describe why a wetlands-specific declaration will add important value to other Rights of Nature declarations. Second, we discuss how the ROW does not detract from, but rather can contribute to and complement, existing conservation and management approaches and mechanisms. Third, we agree on the importance of weaving Indigenous and local knowledge with other knowledges and emphasise that the ROW should not be confused with or misused to undermine the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities. Finally, we explain how legal rights can and have been granted to non-humans, including elements of Nature, such as wetlands.

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