Major threats to indigenous are pollution, deforestation, and climate change. Indigenous people depend on the environment and the resources of the land for their way of life. These changes cause loss of culture, traditional knowledge and disintegration of traditional governance structures (Jerez, 2021) Climate change also has a huge effect on indigenous people’s health. Warmer climate can bring water-borne or vector-borne disease.
Through these threats indigenous people have adapted through continued practice of traditional knowledge. This knowledge has been passed between generations and often encoded in indigenous languages. Indigenous people have partnered with different organizations such as Grassroots International to fight to protect the environment, and food sovereignty. In Honduras there has been a combination with using the traditional Lenca methods of crop cultivation and modern principles of agroecology. This has helped build a united front to help protect the planet and feed people (Morrill & Gonser, 2022).
Jerez, M. (2021, April 4).
Challenges and opportunities for Indigenous Peoples' sustainability | DISD
. United Nations. Retrieved December 23, 2022, from https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/2021/04/indigenous-peoples-sustainability/
Morrill , C., & Gonser, R. (2022, April 22).
United for indigenous lives and mother earth
. Grassroots International. Retrieved December 23, 2022, from https://grassrootsonline.org/blog/united-voice-indigenous-lives-mother-earth/
