STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionReport, the resilience of indigenous populations is being severely challengedwhen combined with demographic, socio-economic and lifestyle changes. 48The Arctic region is predicted to lose whole ecosystems, which will have implicationsfor the use, protection and management of wildlife, fisheries, and forests, affectingthe customary uses of culturally and economically important species and resources.Arctic indigenous communities—as well as First Nations communities in Canada 49 —are already experiencing a decline in traditional food sources, such as ringed sealand caribou, which are mainstays of their traditional diet. Some communities arebeing forced to relocate because the thawing permafrost is damaging the road andbuilding infrastructure. Throughout the region, travel is becoming dangerous andmore expensive as a consequence of thinning sea ice, unpredictable freezing andthawing of rivers and lakes, and the delay in opening winter roads (roads that can beused only when the land is frozen). 50Changes in animal populations have also had an impact, and some indigenouscommunities are observing new species moving into their territories (“climaterefugees”) as well as a decline in both the health and number of existing speciesthat are staple foods and also have traditional economic value. 51 The resourcesavailable to indigenous peoples to counter these threats are limited.In Africa, climate change projections indicate that some areas may becomedrier, whereas others may become wetter. Nomadic indigenous pastoralistcommunities in sub-Saharan and Eastern Africa, who live mainly in semiaridlands, have started experiencing frequent droughts that are destroyingvegetation and livestock. Climate change will also have significant implicationsin the use of the traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of Africanindigenous communities. Thus, it is important that climate change adaptationand mitigation measures of change take into consideration the traditionalknowledge, innovations and practices of African indigenous communities. 52the Arctic region ispredicted to lose wholeecosystems, which willhave implications forthe use, protection andmanagement of wildlife,fisheries, and forests,affecting the customaryuses of culturally andeconomically importantspecies and resourcesIn the Pacific region, indigenous peoples live in sensitive zones where theeffects of climate change-induced rising sea levels and coast erosion are mostdevastating. The challenges faced are a loss of territories, forced migration fromlow-lying islands and relocation of these migrants to other indigenous peoples’traditional territories. Such relocations of indigenous “environmental refugee”communities are already taking place and are having, and will continue to have,a number of adverse social, spiritual, cultural and economic implications for theaffected communities. 5348IPCC (2007b), 63.49Working Group on Article 8J (2007e) .50IPCC (2007b).51Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (2007), 16.52Working Group on Article 8J (2007a), 39.53UNEP/CBD/WG8J/4/4 (2005).THE ENVIRONMENT | 97