Guide on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples

10Why should traditional knowledgeof indigenous peoples be centrallyconsidered in issues related tobiodiversity and climate change?• Indigenous peoples have proven sustainable environmental practices(See Box below).• Indigenous peoples also consider care and maintenance of biodiversityas their responsibility (Turner, 2007). In their traditional world views,animals and plants, as well as other components of nature are regardedas relatives or sacred entities “willing to give themselves to peoplewithin a reciprocal system that demanded proper care and respect inreturn.”• Toledo (2000) has asserted that scientists from the fields of conservationbiology, linguistic and anthropology of contemporary cultures,ethnobiology and ethnoecology, have evolved towards convergenceon a shared principle: the world’s biodiversity will only be effectivelypreserved by preservingdiversity of cultures andvice versa. This commonstatement has beennourished by four mainsets of evidence: The most biologicallydiverse regions in theworld also have themost linguistic diversityThe most biologicallyhigh-value regionsin the world areindigenous territoriesThe recognizedimportance ofindigenous peoplesas main managersand dwellers of wellpreservedhabitats, andCertification ofconservation valuesand behavior amongIndigenous Peoples’SustainableEnvironmental Practices• The indigenous peoples of BritishColumbia consider biodiversity atthe broader scale of communityor ecosystem variation criticallyimportant. People routinelyaccessed different habitats, withdifferent groups of resources, fromthe ocean and valley bottoms tothe high mountaintops.• First Peoples have maintainedand enhanced plant and animalpopulations and productivity andincreased habitat diversity throughresource management strategiesthat, as a result, yield a greatervariety and abundance of foodsand materials (Turner, 2007).106 <strong>Guide</strong> on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples