Overview Of Indigenous People's Bio Cultural Climate Change Assessment Initiative

The main objective of the Indigenous People’s Bio Cultural Climate Change Assessment Initiative (IPCCA) is to empower indigenous people to develop and use indigenous scaffolds to evaluate the impact of climate change on their societies and ecosystems as well as to implement strategies for indigenous resilience and adaptive strategies to mitigate impacts (Indigenous People’s Bio Cultural Climate Change Assessment Initiative 2013). The initiative arose out of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, where it was noted that “... cultures that support Traditional Knowledge around the world are often living in marginal ecosystems, such as the Arctic, mountains, deserts and small islands …which are ... often the sources of key ecosystem

The evidence of climate change can already be seen in the form of higher temperatures, rising sea levels, increased ocean acidity and ice melt. Natural causes cannot explain all of the apparent changes in the climate, leading to the assumption that human behaviours are contributing to climate change, predominantly by emitting billions of tons per year of CO2 and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels (Solomon, 2007). The indigenous communities are especially vulnerable to both the environmental effects and the subsequential societal effects of climate change as a result of a number of geographic, economic and political factors. Many indigenous communities occupy, or have been relegated to, geographically remote regions which support delicate ecosystems, where their livelihoods are reliant upon natural resources and subsistence living such as hunting, fishing and basic agriculture (Salick & Ross 2009). These delicate ecosystems are most sensitive to the effects of climate change and the resultant effects on sustainability, for example; the low-lying island groups, Arctic and Antarctic regions and arid desert fringe regions. These indigenous communities usually do not possess the political influence to

It uses previously documented information including, maps, satellite and participatory maps and GIS data which is designed to gather and synthesis information on climate change and its impacts on the targeted site. In the absence of reliable documented information, interviews with experts are conducted to gather information (Ishigua et al., 2011). This scientific data is then adapted to the local bio cultural context using the communities frameworks that help translate general concepts to local contexts usually led and developed by the indigenous committee. This unique integration of indigenous information and scientific data is extremely important and appears to be carried out in an effective manner as evidenced by assessments carried out by the IPCC which were presented at the UN climate talks on global warming. Included in the Initiatives manifesto, is its goal to influence and present indigenous-centric issues and ideas in the international political and public-policy setting forums (Berkes 1999). However, critically there has still been very little practical action to involve indigenous communities in coming up with climate change solutions that link evidence on the ground to policy development in the UNFCCC (Martinez 2011). Therefore, the IPCCA proposes that existing best practices in