Indigenous people: the guardians of our natural environments
On August 9, 1982, the first meeting of the Working Group on the Multiple Populations of Indigenous Peoples of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities was held. Since then, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples has been celebrated every August 9, with the aim of raising community awareness of the human rights situation of indigenous communities, as well as drawing the attention of the media and governments to the demands they make and the measures that need to be taken.
Currently, 6.2% of the world’s population belongs to an indigenous community and there are more than 476 million indigenous people in 90 countries. The inhabitants of these peoples face challenges and threats to their human rights every day, making them among the most vulnerable population groups, representing 15% of the world’s poorest. In addition, the inequality gap affects all areas of their lives, with 47% of the indigenous population in the labor force having no education whatsoever, compared to 17% of non-indigenous people who work, and the difference between indigenous women workers and their non-indigenous counterparts being even greater.
Moreover, 86% of workers belonging to indigenous peoples work in the informal market, compared to 66% of their non-indigenous counterparts. These and other data have led to the conclusion that the indigenous population is three times more likely to live in extreme poverty.
The culture of the indigenous population is directly linked to their natural environments, so that their identity as a people is highly dependent on the care of their ecosystems and biodiversity. For this reason, the climate crisis is posing a pressing threat to indigenous communities, not only because of the direct adverse effects of this crisis, but also because of the situation of vulnerability in which they are already immersed. Moreover, due to their intimate relationship with nature, the climate and environmental crisis directly affects their right to spirituality, and calls into question their food security and subsistence needs. However, despite representing one of the most vulnerable groups on the planet, their ancestral practices and knowledge of the human relationship with nature can make an invaluable contribution to achieving the sustainable future that both the planet and human beings need.
Particularly devastated by this climate change phenomenon are the indigenous populations of the Arctic, an example being the indigenous Yakutia people living in the extreme northeast of Russia, where the average temperature has risen by 2 to 3°C in recent years. This has caused the permafrost to thaw, which has intensified fires and led to a loss of biodiversity.
Likewise, although there are sociocultural differences among the various indigenous peoples, they are equally affected when defending their identity, their way of life and, above all, the natural resources of the environments in which they live. That is why, for years, the indigenous population has advocated for the recognition of their identity and to develop it according to their worldview, as well as for the right to self-determination and the recognition of the right they have over their ancestral lands and the natural resources that are part of it. Thanks to their years of struggle for the recognition of their rights, some advances have been achieved. In particular, one of the great victories was the approval of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, or the establishment of the beginning of the Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022-2032 to address the danger of extinction in which many indigenous languages find themselves, since 40% of the 7,000 indigenous languages are at risk of disappearing completely.
In addition, women’s collectives belonging to indigenous peoples have played a fundamental role in keeping indigenous culture alive, transmitting the knowledge of their ancestors and their traditional practices, caring for natural resources, defending their ancestral lands and vindicating the rights of indigenous communities around the world, thus becoming local and national leaders that have enabled advances in the recognition of their cultures and rights. In the same way, the practices of these indigenous women can help to achieve sustainable behavior with the environment.
Despite the courage and activism of women belonging to indigenous peoples, the international community must be committed to defend them so that they can develop their roles as leaders, caregivers and guardians of knowledge, putting an end to the intersectionality that affects them as victims of discrimination for ethnic, gender and socioeconomic reasons.
For all these reasons, FIBGAR has developed the project “Guardians of the Planet: the rights of indigenous peoples”, which aims to provide a global overview of the human rights situation of indigenous peoples, their challenges and achievements. The initiative aimed to form a free online course accessible to the entire Spanish-speaking society that would offer a new perspective on indigenous communities, especially among Spanish youth.
The course is available at the following link: https://cursos.fibgar.es/
Javiera Martínez Molina, FIBGAR collaborator
