New network for mountain indigenous peoples
14.07.2014
An International Network of Mountain Indigenous Peoples is being formed to exchange knowledge, technologies and innovations – including seeds - to achieve food sovereignty and climate change adaptation in mountain environments. The group will also advocate for changes in policies and institutions to protect the rights of indigenous mountain peoples over their biocultural heritage and support traditional knowledge-based adaptation strategies, according to the organizers.
Still in its preliminary planning stages, the network saw its start when 25 indigenous mountain communities from ten countries - Bhutan, China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Papua New Guinea, Tajikistan, Peru, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand - met at a workshop in Bhutan from 26 May to 1 June 2014. Their discussions about how to respond to the impacts of climatic change on their food and farming systems led to their issuing The Bhutan Declaration on Climate Change and Mountain Indigenous Peoples.
Having found that mountain regions, indigenous and traditional cultures already face drastic changes in their food and agricultural systems - such as changes in rainfall patterns, increased temperatures and increased pests and diseases, the declaration calls on governments, research organizations, academics, civil society organizations and the international community to recognize traditional knowledge of mountain ecosystem use and support exchanges of knowledge, innovations and technologies among indigenous and traditional farming communities from mountain ecosystems to enable them to find appropriate and effective solutions to common challenges.
The network is currently producing a film and report of the Indigenous Mountain Communities workshop in Bhutan. Read more
Photo: Ajay Rastogi
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