Happy #WorldWildlifeDay! This year's theme is #biodiversity2020 and #SustainingAllLife.
Today, as part of awareness of
the important environmental activism going on around the world, I’d like to
amplify the voice of Nigerian writer Chika Unigwe1, who points out
it’s not just Greta Thunberg who should be getting all the attention. There are
many young indigenous and African environmental activists whose communities’
survival is dependent on the land they live on. This gives these young people
an unique insight into climate change, environmental issues and the destructive
actions of governments and businesses’ exploitation of their land and its
natural resources2. Moreover, indigenous people protect over 80% of the
entire world’s biodiversity, yet only make up 5% of the global population so
their huge contribution should be acknowledged and rewarded. They also possess
a vast bank of knowledge which we need in order to appreciate and act on when
working on environmental issues eg ecosystems, biodiversity, conservation and
climate change.
For instance, Autumn Peltier3,
from the Anishinabek Nation, has campaigned, since the age of 8, to provide
clean, safe tap water to wash in and drink. Her work has led her to become the Chief
Water Commissioner, speaking for the 40 First Nations in Ontario. She lives on Manitoulin
Island (Wiikwemkoong territory), off the coast of Ontario, situated in Lake
Huron, very close to the USA. In 2016, she challenged PM Trudeau over access to
safe water and harmful pipeline projects. In 2019, at the age of 15, she was
once again nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize.
““No community should be on a
boil water advisory,” Peltier told Vice. “Or experience not being able to drink
from your own tap. Children shouldn’t have to grow up not knowing what it’s
like to drink from your faucet, or shower, or wash your hands. “Canada is not a
Third World country but some of our First Nations are living in Third World
conditions.””4
It’s also time to include
indigenous people in international environment and climate change debates,
especially because their human rights are directly linked to climate change, as
the UN highlight:
“The U.N.’s top climate change
body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), says without rights
for Indigenous people, climate change will certainly get worse. But in too many
conversations about climate change, tribes like Peltier’s aren’t at the table.”5
Another young indigenous female
activist I’d like to bring to the fore today is Quannah Chasinghorse (from the Han
Gwich’in and Lakota Sioux Nations)6. She is an apt example for this
year’s biodiversity theme because she managed to save the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge from Trump’s oil drilling plans.
“Drilling in the Arctic Refuge
threatens the lives of Indigenous Peoples, the survival of countless species,
and one of the most special landscapes in the United States. The Arctic Refuge
contains the greatest biodiversity of any protected area north of the Arctic
Circle. It provides vital habitat for the Porcupine Caribou Herd, which uses
the unique coastal plain ecosystem to bear and rear its young. The Gwich’in
people have depended on the Porcupine caribou for thousands of years and call
the coastal plain “Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit” (The Sacred Place Where
Life Begins). Protecting the caribou is
a matter of basic human rights for the Gwich’in and the Iñupiat communities
that stand with them.”7
As this quote shows, indigenous
human rights, biodiversity, ecosystems and the preservation of wildlife animals
are all very interconnected issues which need to be addressed together, rather
than as separate issues. This region is particularly sensitive to rises in
temperature as it causes erosion which means the loss of indigenous territory
and loss of habitat for “Porcupine caribou herd, thousands of migratory birds,
and the most imperiled polar bear population on the planet”8,
amongst others.
I think we need a less
Eurocentric approach (ie so-called Western Civilization centred) to climate
change and environmental issues in general, and instead actually listen to
those who are most impacted by these issues. In addition to indigenous
populations, there are African, Indian, Bangladesh, Caribbean and other communities
seriously affected by the effects of climate change and environmental problems
and the young activists9 speaking out on their behalf are no less
important than Greta Thunberg! They deserve the same media coverage (especially
in the press and TV which is airing their important work much less than social
media) that Thunberg receives so their voices can be heard and not drowned out.
4ibid
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