[Press Release] Red Star leads exploration of pathways to build climate and ecosystem resilience.
(January 31, 2021)
Indigenous communities are among those most adversely affected by climate change, despite contributing very little to its causes. According to a recent United Nations, Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services report, biodiversity is declining less rapidly in lands that are traditionally owned, managed, used or occupied by Indigenous people. Colonial mindsets continue to be centered on resource-taking. Outside the U.S., Indigenous peoples have acted to mitigate and restore ecosystem balance through the institutionalization of Indigenous climate approaches. We need to do the same here in the U.S.
Red Star and Seven Directions, A Center for Indigenous Public Health at the University of Washington have partnered to engage Indigenous leadership, communities and organizations in a participatory process to identify pathways to globally connect healthy environments with healthy people.
Support for this study was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.