With 20,000 acres of the Amazon rainforest lost to flames and unprecedented bushfires causing a catastrophe in Australia, indigenous voices offer the world innovative ways of solving our biggest challenges. Despite being historical champions of environmental protection, indigenous voices in mainstream media and politics continue to be marginalised, as their struggle for equal rights remains stagnant. Aided by growing eco-consciousness in the wake of the climate crisis, social media influencers and a global appetite for change, in 2020 expect to see the world to turn its attention towards indigenous rights and a growing global movement.
As a woman of colour who is not indigenous herself, I feel it is important to state from the outset that my knowledge is entirely situated in what “I” see as an emerging social movement (that I am not part of, nor speak on behalf of). While indigenous peoples have been fighting for their rights for centuries, the tipping point I identify relates to the transnational reach of an old and deeply ingrained struggle over the last year. This reach is beginning to tap into public consciousness, seeping from popular culture to geopolitical agendas.
A global indigenous movement
Indigenous peoples have a strong connection to 80% of Planet Earth’s biodiversity. Indigenous cultures are deeply rooted in protection of the environment and their knowledge of how to protect fragile ecosystems and adapt has aided conservationists for many decades. Conservation giants such as WWF, IUCN, The Rainforest Alliance and many other environmental groups have long recognised the importance of indigenous peoples’ knowledge in the fight to protect the planet’s resources. At the same time, rights groups recognise that human rights violations against environmental defenders have hit indigenous communities the hardest. Environmental destruction and the lack of global indigenous rights have gone hand-in-hand in many ways.
