Using Indigenous and Western knowledge for Indigenous-led climate resilience.
A strengths-based approach that starts with Australia’s First Peoples’ knowledge and customary governance is vital to responsibly bridge Western science and Indigenous-led climate action and adaptation. This place-based project in the Shark Bay World Heritage area – Gathaaguda in Western Australia to establish the Malgana climate priorities, and conservation and livelihoods goals, which Western science supports.
This project builds on research and a co-design partnership established in the previous NESP Earth Systems and Climate Change and Marine Biodiversity hubs with the Malgana Traditional Owners. Through Malgana-led research, this project is piloting different Indigenous-led knowledge-sharing tools to consider climate risk. It will test participatory mapping, seasonal calendars and cascading consequence diagrams as knowledge sharing tools to improve the participation of Indigenous peoples in understanding and using climate information for adaptation planning.
This will provide a critical foundation for the recognition and inclusion of cultural heritage values of Malgana People in climate change adaptation planning for the World Heritage Area, and more broadly in climate change adaptation planning for other World Heritage Properties. The lessons gained from testing these approaches of Indigenous-led knowledge sharing tools in Indigenous-led adaptation planning can be continued and built on through connections with the project Understanding and Connecting Parallel Climate Knowledge of Western Systems and Ancient Lore.
Want to know more?
Please contact the project lead: Peci (Pethie) Lyons, CSIRO
