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March 25, 2024 After years of sustained resistance against Harvard University’s controversial Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment, known as SCoPEx, the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), Saami Council, and Tonatierra Nahuacalli welcome the news of Harvard University announcing its cancellation of SCoPEx.  SCoPEx, is a geoengineering technique called Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI), that has consistently targeted Indigenous […] The post Indigenous Peoples Celebrate End of Harvard’s Geoengineering Experiment SCoPEx first appeared on Indigenous Environmental Network.

Environmental organizations filed a claim before the Ministry of the Environment and Energy (MINAE) due to illegal logging and the invasion of the Kéköldi indigenous territory in the town of Cocles de Puerto Viejo, Talamanca. On March 9, several officials of Sinac La Amistad Caribe Conservation Area visited the area and filed a complaint with […] The post Illegal Logging Threaten Costa Rica’s Kéköldi Indigenous Territory in Talamanca appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

Advocates fear situation could escalate in Javari valley, a region plagued by violence and poor healthcareMore than 100 Indigenous people in Brazil’s Javari valley have been diagnosed with flu-like symptoms, raising fears that the situation could escalate into an epidemic.The valley, where Indigenous advocate Bruno Pereira and journalist Dom Phillips were killed in 2022, is home to the largest population of Indigenous people in voluntary isolation and of recent contact worldwide. The Korubo people were first contacted by government officials in 1996, and they continue to live with little interaction with other Indigenous groups and local authorities. Continue reading...

Indigenous fire management shaped Australian tropical savannas over millennia, until the arrival of Europeans pushed the landscape back into a dangerous, unmanaged state.

As world delegates prepare for a crucial U.N. meeting in Canada, Arctic Indigenous communities emphasize the urgent need to address plastic pollution impacting their health and environment. James Bruggers reports for Inside Climate News.In short:Delegates from nearly 180 countries will meet in Ottawa on April 23 to progress a treaty aimed at curbing plastic pollution, considering the lifecycle of plastics from production to disposal.Arctic Indigenous representatives will present new scientific findings on the presence of harmful plastics in traditional foods like walruses and seals, highlighting the risks to their communities.The negotiations, which have previously stalled, are seen as a critical opportunity to establish a comprehensive global agreement by year's end.Key quote: "To learn that these microplastics are ending up in our main foods, but also in our bodies, is yet another alarm for the decision makers." — Vi Waghiyi, environmental health and justice director, Alaska Community Action on ToxicsWhy this matters: The outcome of these talks is important not only for global environmental health but also for the health outcomes of Arctic populations, who are disproportionately affected by pollution due to their subsistence lifestyles. Read more: “Plastic will overwhelm us:” Scientists say health should be the core of global plastic treaty.

Their message isn't new, but it is gaining urgency as funding for green energy projects grows.

Human Rights Watch alleges Indigenous peoples were thrown off their land in name of conservation.

Standing Rock Youth Council Delivers Recommendations at the 23rd Session of the UNPFII  ‘Enhancing Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Self-determination in the Context of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Emphasizing the Voices of Indigenous Youth’ We, the Standing Rock Youth Council, members of the Standing Rock sovereign Lakota/Nakota/Dakota Indigenous nation, are here […] The post Standing Rock Youth Council Delivers Right to Self-determination in the Context UNDRIP at the 23rd Session of UNPFII first appeared on Indigenous Environmental Network.

Past Presentation | The last indigenous people of Mentawai, a small archipelago south-west of Sumatra, are fighting with creative resistance to preserve their ancient culture and rainforest. A culture on the verge of extinction - with the latest geopolitical developments, the destruction of their habitat reaches the point of no return. Smashing the hopes of thirty years of democratization in Indonesia, Jakarta in relapse to authoritarian rule is enforcing deforestation in Mentawai. In collaboration with investigative journalist Febrianti and indigenous foundations, our film portrays indigenous culture, history and resistance up to the most recent developments in geopolitical of Indonesia's growing environmental degradation. Connect with all your heart and senses: see, feel, touch, smell life in the jungle. The cinematic and compassionate camera conveys an intimate and sensual experience of the indigenous life on Mentawai with its beauty and vulnerability. Three shamans are the main characters in the film, hunter-gatherers in a culture predating even traditions of weaving or pottery, archaic traditions with their own complexity. The film portrays daily life of the indigenous tribe, their spiritual cosmos and their commitment to preserving their own culture and natural habitat. Logging companies threaten the fragile eco-system of the islands. Rare historic footage and archive materials tell the story of decades of oppression of the indigenous culture – but also of the resilience of our main characters and the last tribes living in the jungle. The main character, Father Laulau had been a leader in this struggle for decades, meeting the governor on Sumatra in a key point of history. The latter part of the film explores the geopolitical context and shows a new generation joining our main characters in the fight for the preservation of both their environment and culture – as part of a larger movement in Indonesia. The project started by indigenous initiative: Martison Siritoitet from Indigenous foundation Suku Mentawai (http:/sukumentawai.org) invited director Joo Peter to Mentawai and a long-term collaboration started including also Mentawai Indigenous Education Program (http://IEFprograms.org) The film is one of a planned series of films celebrating the diversity and richness of the Indonesian indigenous culture.

COP29 could make carbon markets permanent. Indigenous leaders are calling for a moratorium before it's too late.

Now Playing | Bread for Tomorrow is a short film about the Indigenous Wicungo community’s struggle to gain legal ownership of their ancestral territory in Peru and how Rainforest Trust’s partner, Center for the Development of an Indigenous Amazon, has helped them to reclaim the rights to their homes and livelihoods.

After almost two centuries, the Indigenous Nation is reestablishing the only reservation in Illinois.

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Now Playing | On the banks of Louisiana, fierce Indigenous women are ready to fight—to stop the corporate blacksnake and preserve their way of life. They are risking everything to protect Mother Earth from the predatory fossil fuel companies that seek to poison it. The film follows water protector Cherri Foytlin in the swamps of Louisiana as she leads us on a no-nonsense journey of indigenous resistance to the Bayou Bridge Pipeline (BBP), which is an extension of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The pipelines are part of an ongoing legacy of colonization and slow genocide. At the heart of the struggle is a battle between people and profit.

Past Presentation | In a polluted metropolis, full of contrasts, a unique seed sprouts: an indigenous girl from the past.

Conflict arises over Arizona copper mine on sacred grounds, testing the balance between green energy demands and Indigenous religious rights.Taylar Dawn Stagner reports for Grist.In short:A copper mine proposed on sacred Indigenous land in Arizona sparks a legal battle, weighing religious freedom against environmental solutions.The San Carlos Apache Tribe deems the site crucial for spiritual practices, while the mining project promises economic benefits and vital copper for green technology.Despite an appeal to stop construction, a court ruling permits mining, prompting a possible Supreme Court showdown over substantial burdens on religious practice.Key quote: "Oak Flat is like Mount Sinai to us — our most sacred site where we connect without Creator, our faith, our families and our land.”— Wendsler Noise, Apache StrongholdWhy this matters:The controversy surrounding the proposed Resolution Copper mine at Oak Flat has sparked a significant debate that touches on environmental conservation, economic development, and Indigenous rights. Oak Flat, a stretch of Arizona desert east of Phoenix, is considered sacred by the San Carlos Apache Tribe and other Native American groups. It's also the site of one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world.Related: Modern boundaries complicate —and stymie—the Menominee Tribe's effort to protect burial grounds.

Past Presentation | A journey among old-growth forests on Vancouver Island and the indigenous people that live among them. Many of the areas in this film have been logged, and this footage is some of the last to see them in their full glory.

Past Presentation | In Myanmar’s first and only country-wide environmental movement, Indigenous punk rock pastors and women activists protect a sacred river from a Chinese-built megadam through protest, prayer, and Karaoke music videos.

Now Playing | Plans to build the Thirty Meter Telescope on the summit of the sacred Mauna Kea sparks another battle in a decades-long struggle between Indigenous Hawaiians and astronomers.

An innovative app developed by Inuit communities, SIKU, is redefining the integration of traditional knowledge and scientific data to empower Indigenous groups across the Arctic in environmental monitoring and decision-making. Hannah Hoag reports for Hakai Magazine.In short:SIKU, meaning "sea ice" in Inuktitut, is a social network that enables users to document and share observations on wildlife, sea ice conditions, and local foods, fostering a unique blend of traditional and scientific knowledge.The platform, developed with the Arctic Eider Society, has gained traction since 2015, now boasting more than 25,000 users from at least 120 communities, who have made more than 75,000 posts.It supports crucial community-driven decisions and research, with features like GPS tracking for safety on the ice, and data collection on environmental changes and wildlife management.Key quote: “It’s part science and part Inuit knowledge. It can work both ways, instead of one dominating the other.”— Lucassie Arragutainaq, cofounder of the Arctic Eider SocietyWhy this matters: SIKU is more than an app; it's a testament to the power of Indigenous knowledge in shaping environmental policy and research. Learning from Indigenous people may be vital to meeting the existential challenge of the climate crisis.

A beleaguered solar geoengineering project failed to conduct field tests because of opposition from environmentalists and Indigenous residents

A version of this article originally appeared in The Deep Dish, our members-only newsletter. Become a member today and get the next issue directly in your inbox. The opportunity to absorb Indigenous wisdom and share that knowledge with the community is what attracted 20-year-old Nyomi Oliver (Navajo/Chicana) to the Denver nonprofit, which offers a wide variety of […] The post Native Youth Learn to Heal Their Communities Through Mycelium appeared first on Civil Eats.

Past Presentation | Year after year, family members of an indigenous ethnic group of Huicholes, from the Sierra Madre of Nayarit and Jalisco, leave their communities with their entire families to work as tobacco laborers. Including pregnant women and children, they live at the tobacco fields and are exposed continuously to chemicals that cause many chronic and serious illnesses.

Past Presentation | Biopiracy is a plague that has hit the African continent like a tornado. Biochemical industry is frantic to patent bio resources at such a fast pace, indigenous society and owners of Intellectual property of the bio resources are flailing to keep up with Western laws of patenting genes of bio species.

Now Playing | LA LUCHA SIGUE (THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES) is a feature length documentary that combines breathtaking cinematography with intimate access and creative storytelling as it follows COPINH and OFRANEH, two grassroots Indigenous and Black organizations leading the struggle for justice in Honduras.

Past Presentation | El Río is a feature-length documentary where the daily life and stories of Amazonian peoples become cautionary tales in our Anthropocene era. El Río contributes to intersecting fields of anthropology and environmental humanities for our understanding of the perspectives of indigenous cultures and the life of water ecosystems under threat. It gives credence to the importance of ecological knowledge and belief systems for the entangled natural and human histories of Amazonia.

Past Presentation | In the 1970s the start of oil extraction in the Ecuadorian Amazon engendered expectations of a new “era of prosperity.” But now, in a David-and-Goliath struggle for environmental justice, the negative impacts of oil production are being captured through a project combining citizen science, scholarly activism, indigenous and mestizo mobilization, and the use of frugal but advanced GIScience, drones, smartphones and bespoke apps.

Past Presentation | The Call from the Sea addresses the future of our oceans and what we are leaving behind. The Bajau are an indigenous, sea nomadic group that live on top of the ocean in Indonesia. This short documentary. It is a personal and poetic story about life as a Bajau and how our actions affect their world and other people’s world who live closest to the ocean.

Past Presentation | Beyond Fordlandia (USA, 82 min) Directed by Marcos Colón. An account of Henry Ford’s Amazon experience 90 years after its failure. The story begins in 1927, when the Ford Motor Co. attempted to establish rubber plantations on the Tapajós River, a tributary of the Amazon. The indigenous peoples successfully transition from failed rubber to successful soybean cultivation for export.

Now Playing | The island of O'ahu is covered with coconut palms, but for fear of liability the vast majority of these sacred trees have been stripped of coconuts. The grassroots movement "Niu Now" is on a mission to restore the "niu," or coconut, as a fundamental food crop in Hawai'i and spread the Indigenous wisdom of "aloha 'āina:" loving land and serving people.

Now Playing | Produced in the year 2007, a photographic essay realized in recognition of the indigenous roots, portrayed twelve adolescents belonging to Eleutério do katu, RN Brasil. Twelve years later the photographer returns to Katu in search of these protagonists, now adults, to know about his personal trajectories and his world views.

Past Presentation | Moving Mountains tackles the destructive effects of large-scale mining on the lives, culture and environment of communities in the Cordilleras. After playing host to these big mining companies, they remain poor, their resources depleted and their communities destroyed. The film also presents the inspiring story of an indigenous tribe in Kalinga province that has kept large mining companies away from the area and has allowed the community to determine how to manage its mineral resources.

Past Presentation | The Alberta Oil Sands are one of the world’s most controversial industrial developments. They are the target of high profile protests and debate around the globe. One essential voice is excluded from any discourse on the issue; the voice of downstream indigenous communities. One River, Many Relations is a hard-hitting film that profiles the experiences and insights of the Mikisew Cree First Nation and the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Dene. Two years in the making, it documents both the benefits and damages associated with living in proximity of the oil sands.

Now Playing | In the mountains of northern Kenya, a Samburu community is doing something that has never been done before. They’ve built a sanctuary for orphaned elephants to try to rehabilitate them back to the wild. The project is not just changing local attitudes about elephants, it's changing attitudes about women too because the secret to Reteti’s success is all because of the special bond between a group of local women keepers and one special elephant named Shaba. Reteti Elephant Sanctuary is the first-ever indigenous community-owned and run sanctuary in all of Africa, where rescued orphaned elephants are looked after by local keepers from the Samburu community. They are rehabilitated and raised and then reintroduced back into the wild. The sanctuary is empowering young Samburu women to be the first-ever indigenous women elephant keepers in all of Africa. At first, the community didn’t think there was a place for women in the workplace. Now, the success of these women elephant keepers is unlocking new possibilities and setting a powerful example for young girls, hoping to pursue their dreams. What’s happening there, without fanfare, is nothing less than the beginnings of a transformation in the way the Samburu people relate to wild animals. This oasis where orphans grow up, learning to be wild so that one day they can rejoin their herds, is as much about people as it is about elephants. This is a personal story about a group of women and an elephant named Shaba who changed each other's lives. This film is a powerful reminder that we are a part of a complex world created over millions of years, and the survival of all species is intertwined with our own. Reteti began in partnership with Conservation International who provided critical operational support and work to scale the Reteti community-centered model to create lasting impacts worldwide.

Now Playing | Ailton Krenak, indigenous leader and thinker, talks about the pain of the Watú (or Rio Doce in the Krenak language). Sick with the biggest environmental disaster in Brazilian history, the Mariana Dam disaster, the river asks for help. From the impacts on his village on the banks of the river, he makes an overview of the current Anthropocene period and invites all human beings to a journey of reflection and self-criticism, aiming at urgent but necessary paradigm shifts.

Now Playing | Common Ground: The Story of Bears Ears brings viewers into the small communities of San Juan County, Utah, where a fierce debate about public land is underway. As five tribes lead an indigenous movement demanding respect for tribal sovereignty, locals advocating for less federal control over public land gain a voice. The story evolving in this remote part of Utah is a microcosm of the greater political and cultural divides seen across the country.

Indigenous people from Arctic communities are calling for environmental protection in the runup to this month’s round of negotiations aimed at securing a global treaty to end plastic pollution. U.N. talks resume April 23 in Ottawa and are expected to draw delegates from nearly 180 countries to Canada who seek to advance a plastics treaty […]

Now Playing | When a novel dam proposal threatens indigenous communities in the Bolivian Amazon, an Uchupiamona woman named Ruth Alipaz Cuqui must step into the unknown and become a spokesperson for her people. To the Uchupiamona people, the river has its own life and personality, just as a woman does. Returning to her land for guidance, Ruth and her people explore an alternative future for their rivers based on adventure tourism and whitewater rafting. While opposing powers much bigger than her, she must come to terms with how much she is willing to risk to protect her river and her people.

Until now, only one other federal informant was known to be in the camps.

The Biden administration's push for offshore wind farms off California's coast clashes with plans to establish a tribal heritage marine sanctuary. Heather Richards reports for E&E News.In short:The proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary might block the development of crucial offshore wind projects necessary for California's decarbonization efforts.Offshore wind developers are seeking ways to ensure their power lines can reach the mainland without diminishing the sanctuary's size or its significance to the Chumash tribe.The situation illustrates a broader struggle to balance environmental protection, renewable energy goals, and the preservation of indigenous rights.Key quote:"The ocean should not be the sacrificial lamb for our unquenchable thirst for energy."— Violet Sage Walker, chair of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council.Why this matters:The tension at Morro Bay underlines a critical junction in America's energy transition: how to harmoniously expand renewable energy infrastructure while respecting environmental sanctuaries and Indigenous heritage. This debate isn't just local; it's a snapshot of the larger challenge in aligning environmental preservation with the urgent push for green energy.The century began with a great deal of optimism around marine protected areas as tools to protect the oceans. Two decades later, conservation goals and fishing interests remain at odds.

The funding is designed to help tribal nations adapt to climate threats, including relocating infrastructure.

Past Presentation | MANN v. FORD follows the Ramapough Indians and their legal team, led by feisty and charming female attorney Vicki Gilliam of The Cochran Firm as they take on Ford and the EPA, battling to secure a healthy future for their children.

Past Presentation | Amidst national controversy surrounding the potential dangers of hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking,' environmental activist Pauline Matt stands alone to protect her native homeland - the Blackfeet Reservation of northern Montana.

Past Presentation | In the Paraguayan Chaco region, the area with the fastest deforestation in the world, aboriginal communities see the source of their foodstuffs, their pharmacopoeia, and their mythological tales disappear before their eyes. An unflinching exposé of the effects of uncontrolled settlement on one of the last virgin territories of the planet.

Now Playing | The changing nature of a Pacific coastal village over 15 years seen through the eyes of Lynne who marries Jason and they settle in his village. The film is an adaptation of a stage play that toured coastal communities in Vanuatu in 2019.

Past Presentation | Bison were nearly exterminated across North America. Thanks to the Shoshone tribe, the National Wildlife Federation and the coordinated efforts of a host of other individuals and organizations, bison have finally been brought back to the Wind River Indian Reservation and a landscape that they once defined.

Now Playing | The Lakota people on the Rosebud Reservation of South Dakota welcome buffalo back to their land with hopes that this reunion will restore their cultural, physical, spiritual, and economic health.

Past Presentation | The people of Vanuatu, once dubbed the happiest place on earth, are struggling to maintain culture and tradition despite climate change. This film explores its impacts on Malekula Island as told through conversations villagers have with each other as they go about their daily lives attempting to grow traditional crops.

Past Presentation | Selva Rica follows the story of a young Bora-Huitoto painter, Brus, as he discovers a unique path to helping his community resist the encroaching Petrol Company that threatens the future of their ancestral lands as well as their culture in the Madre de Dios rainforest of Peru.

Past Presentation | In the southwest of Madagascar, the Mahafaly plateau is an extremely arid land. Here, the rains fall only a few times a year. In these very difficult living conditions, the inhabitants of the small village of Ampotaka found a unique solution to store water.

Past Presentation | A documentary project that follows a young Greenlandic woman (Pipaluk Knudsen-Ostermann) on her journey all around the world to find the local causes of the contamination that is quietly poisoning her people. In three different continents she meets the people behind the sources of pollution and discovers the heartbreaking dilemmas that lie at the heart of it.

Past Presentation | In the forests of Borneo, a native community struggles to protect its ancestral homeland from palm oil plantations–an industry poised to destroy one of the Earth’s oldest and most biodiverse rainforests. This film offers a glimpse into the lives of those who are most at risk, the Dayak—"people of the forest," who have relied on the forests for thousands of years.

Past Presentation | Filmed across the world – from the Straits of Gibraltar to the coasts of Senegal and Alaska to the Tokyo fish market – featuring top scientists, indigenous fishermen and fisheries enforcement officials, The End of the Line is a wake-up call to the world. Imagine an ocean without fish. Imagine your meals without seafood. David Murray is the director of this first major documentary on overfishing.

Past Presentation | As fire seasons grow longer, more destructive and more deadly, it is clear that our approach to reducing wildfire risk is failing. This film brings cutting edge science and indigenous knowledge into focus. It forces us, from city dwellers to seasoned fire professionals to rural citizens , to question what we believe and offers a science based way forward to live and thrive with fire.

Now Playing | Juskatla weaves together perspectives of the people who live on the islands of Haida Gwaii—an archipelago on Canada’s Northwest coast, and the ancestral territories of the Haida Nation. From industrial loggers who harvest trees from ancient forests, to Sphenia Jones, a Haida matriarch who bears an intimate knowledge of her People’s territories, Juskatla meditates on the divergent ways of being that shape the islands and its people.

Past Presentation | In Peru, the headwaters of the Amazon River cut through the Andes Mountains and help sustain resident communities as well as the most diverse ecosystem on Earth. As the energy demands of Peru increase, the currently free flowing Marañón River faces over 20 proposed dam projects, two of which have already been approved. Our international team of scientists and river experts spent 28 days rafting the Marañón while documenting the natural and cultural resources that would be eminently impacted by proposed dam projects.

Past Presentation | As a young man, American Louis Sarno heard a song on the radio that gripped his imagination. He followed the mysterious sounds all the way to the Central African rainforest and found their source – the Bayaka Pygmies, a tribe of hunters and gatherers. Louis did not return home until 25 years later. Carried by the contrasts between rainforest and urban America, the stories of Louis and his son, Samedi, are interwoven to form a touching portrait of an extraordinary man and his son.

Now Playing | If you visit Hawaii for the first time, you might be shocked about the wild chickens everywhere around the island. HOME explores the variety of relationship between people and wild chicken in Hawaii. People are trying to protect their community, but wild chickens become a huge part of it. Now we need to find a home for wild chickens, if it’s not already taken over by humans.

New research suggests if we can’t eradicate cane toads, we can teach wildlife not to eat them.

Past Presentation | Earth Speaks is a short documentary about the Earth as Mother and the impacts of oil and gas drilling on tribal lands in the United States, particularly the Blackfeet Reservation in North Central Montana. Outside entities promise economic wealth and prosperity to territories whose unemployment rate hovers at 70%. Exploitation of people, land, and resources is not new to the Native American. How does seeing the Earth with a "spiritual eye" affect the oil and gas industry of Native Lands? Is there a connection between those views and others that are more pragmatic, and what alternative is there for a world dependent on fossil fuels?