Traditional Knowledge and Climate Science Toolkit

Indigenous communities have long histories of interaction with the environment that include coping with variability, uncertainty and change. However, climate induced impacts on their territories and communities are anticipated to be both early and severe due to their location in vulnerable habitats, including small islands, high altitude zones, desert margins and the circumpolar Arctic. Climate change poses a direct threat to many indigenous societies due to their continuing reliance upon resource-based livelihoods. At the same time, resilience in the face of a changing environment is embedded in indigenous knowledge and know-how, diversified resources and livelihoods, social institutions and networks, and cultural values and attitudes. Attentiveness to environmental variability, shifts and trends is an integral part of their ways of life. Community-based and local knowledge may offer valuable insights on climate induced changes, and complement broader-scale scientific research with local precision and nuance. This toolkit provides access to articles, videos and various other resources that will assist indigenous peoples, local communities, policy makers and other stakeholders in accessing research on climate change adaptation and mitigation. The toolkit is available at: http://www.unutki.org/downloads/File/Publications/2013%20Climate%20Science%20%26%20TK%20Toolkit.pdf