How indigenous communities are teaming up with scientists to conserve marine ecosystems

to our Cuna the environment was absolutely everything uh native Hawaiian culture is so deeply rooted in AA which is the land the sea the skies and all that nourishes we have this phrase which is land is Chief and man is servant I'm an Islander by background and so for us our interconnection with the natural environments and its protection is essential to our well-being [Music] I grew up on a small island um my mom used to have the a map of the world on our wall and I thought there is no way the world is that big and it was only after after leaving that I realize oh my goodness I felt like I was in I was at the center of the world because you're surrounded by this big beautiful ocean and you realize that the ocean is really what connects us all when we're looking at particularly indigenous communities around the world you know there's that famous stat that indigenous communities are only about 5% of the global population but they Safeguard 80% of all Global biodiversity and so we're looking at the health protection and longevity of these ecosystems indigenous communities are a central facet of the health of these ecosystems and one of the things that you know I try to do in in my work as well is also to remind people that you know when we're thinking about conservation and the health of ecosystems people are part of that you know as they Thrive we Thrive through that relationship of reciprocity so the acknowledgement of that enduring stewardship both past present and with that concerted effort towards the future is something that is fortunately growing within this conversation both within a conservation of policy but also in a science ific context as well so scientists traditionally as we know go out and measure and have data and documents you know to identify what's going on and they try to identify the causes and the changes for us as indigenous people I think we're more um connected and and have a very deep inherent understanding and we know how things used to be we have stories and songs and artwork that has been passed down through many generations that tells us about you know the reef space and what happened there and how it's how it was formed and how it is now managed and I think traditionally um the two knowledge systems are complimentary and I think they can be complimentary into the future and learning how to better work with judicial owners can give a much more Fuller understanding of what's happening now and what needs to happen in the management of of the reef space in particular indigenous science and knowledge is one of the most robust localized and highly detailed bodies of knowledge relate to natural environment that we have and so I always remind folks whether it's in a policy or scientific context that if we're not valuing respecting and investing in that knowledge we're not Building Solutions that are as robust or as impactful as they can be I think the intersection of historical knowledge of a place traditional practices and modern technology is where we at kulana a COR restoration drive we were founded by a group of native Hawaiians including fishermen Surfers scuba divers scientists boat operators ocean conservational lists all with a vast knowledge of where we come from and a deep respect for our home and these routs mixed with Western technology education research and tools have helped us be successful in piloting new approaches to Coral restoration we have a national sharp working group um which is comprised of uh Fisher folks like sharp Fisher folks uh government so like the B Fisheries department but the the the reason for that group is so everyone can come together and make the best decision for shark monitoring and shark capture and all of that stuff I think it being able to like collaborate with local Fishers you kind of gain access to the knowledge that they have like there's a good example of you know we had tried for quite a while to find tiger sharks to get some tags out and get a better understanding of how they're using the greater you know Caribbean region um but we having difficulty finding them and then when we paired up with one of the local Fishers they were able to sort of get us on those sharks so they have a better you know a lifetime generational knowledge really not even just lifetime knowledge of where these animals are what they're doing the seasons that they're coming through you know different not only about the animals but the environment working with local folks to do this we're also working towards conservation so yes we're getting that core research done but through this we're also mitigating fishing pressure on sharks our ancestors who were so isolated from the rest of the world maintain sustainability long before the term was ever popularized based on a foundational knowledge and understanding that it's I know that provides everything we need it is so important that we recognize indigenous cultures uh for the impact that that they that they have and we are the stewards of the land it is embedded in our in our religion it's embedded in in our daily practices it's really important for the rest of the world to acknowledge that that way we can also regain agency in in our own Islands or or Beyond

Channel: ABC News

Views: 6,659

Keywords: news, breaking news, live news, daily news, world news, us news

Id: Y27Qbgc1wWo

Length: 5min 40sec (340 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 08 2024