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Indigenous peoples constitute less than five per cent of the world’s population, but they safeguard 80 per cent of the world’s biodiversity The natural environment and encompasses native plants and animals (flora and fauna), ecology, natural heritage, ecological restoration and revegetation, landforms, geology..
The global response to climate change The long-term shift in global or regional climate patterns attributed directly or indirectly to human activity. GHG’s emitted into the atmosphere through human activity alter the composition of the global atmosphere, causing rising global temperatures and changing weather patterns in addition to natural climate variability. requires applying all the best knowledge available, including the perspectives of indigenous peoples.
Indigenous peoples are not only among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, they also hold many of the solutions to adapting to it.
Te ao Māori The Māori world, or the Māori world view. calls for the protection and preservation of all that is culturally significant, to protect and preserve our taonga A treasured item, tangible or intangible.. The legacy of our ancestors, that we in turn leave for future generations, lies in the balance.
The impacts of climate change on the cultural, social, environmental, and economic wellbeing of Māori are potentially profound.
Māori communities are already vulnerable and many marae The enclosed space in front of a wharenui (meeting house) where people gather., wāhi tapu A place or site which is sacred to Māori in the traditional, spiritual, religious, ritual or mythological sense. and papakāinga Settlement or village on communal Māori land.are located in rural coastal communities.
These implications include:
- mana whenua Hapū and iwi with ancestral relationships to certain areas in Tāmaki Makaurau where they exercise customary authority. relationships to ancestral taonga, cultural knowledge and practices are at risk - sea rise is compromising wāhi tapu, Māori land holdings, marae and other significant sites
- potential socio-economic impacts on whānau - proposed responses to climate may present a further disadvantage for Māori
- whānau Māori who are already in a precarious financial position, have less access to resources to respond to rapidly worsening conditions
- marae, urupā Burial ground, cemetry, graveyard.and wāhi tapu will be exposed to inundation and flooding
- indigenous flora and fauna are under threat from a changing environment, particularly where those changes are so fast or significant that species cannot adapt or are overrun by exotic invasive species Introduced species believed to spread and cause damage to the environment, human economy or human health.
- climate migrants Persons displaced following disasters due to climate change. within Tāmaki Makaurau and our Pacific island whānau will require additional support.