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In a recent letter published in Earth Stewardship Journal, the Amazon Conservation Team, along with Indigenous and non-Indigenous colleagues from research institutions and nongovernmental organizations, called on academia to meaningfully support biocultural conservation.
“Too often, relationships between academia and Indigenous peoples and nations remain extractive and asymmetrical, and without meaningful recognition or restitution of harm done in the name of science,” the letter states.
The Amazon Conservation Team has worked alongside Indigenous and local communities for 30 years, honoring ancestral knowledge to help protect both ecosystems and cultures. According to a growing body of research, this Indigenous-led approach to conservation is more effective at preserving biodiversity and critical ecosystems around the world, but particularly in the Amazon.
The letter outlines three key strategies for academia to more meaningfully support Indigenous science and conservation:
- Co-design and co-implement — research, teaching, and outreach agendas with Indigenous peoples and local communities, respecting community priorities and timelines.
- Braiding plural knowledge systems — producing and sharing knowledge that draws on academic and Indigenous worldviews.
- Prioritizing outcomes that directly benefit Indigenous peoples and local communities including territorial governance, strengthened relationships with lands, waters, and more-than-human beings, capacity building, and long-term resilience.
You can learn more, and read the full letter in the March 31 issue of Earth Stewardship.
