Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE)’s Post

For millennia, Indigenous peoples have used fire as a vital tool for land stewardship, fostering biodiversity, healthy forests, and resilient ecosystems. In 1850, however, California criminalized cultural burning as part of broader efforts to suppress Indigenous practices, and eventually the state practiced a policy of complete fire suppression. The consequences of this history have been devastating and have even contributed to catastrophic wildfires that are now more frequent than ever. In recent years, California has begun to reckon with these wrongdoings and recognize the value of fire on the landscape. Senate Bill 310, sponsored by the Karuk Tribe and currently awaiting the Governor’s signature, aims to break down barriers to cultural burning by acknowledging Tribal sovereignty and fostering collaboration between Tribal governments and state agencies. This legislation is a vital step toward restoring forest health, building resilience, and advancing both cultural and environmental justice.

With the removal of four dams on the Klamath River, Indigenous communities have achieved a hard-fought, 20-year victory, restoring salmon habitats and allowing the river to heal. Despite unfounded claims linking dam removals to wildfires, the truth is that Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge, including practices like cultural burns, is a proven solution for preventing catastrophic fires and maintaining ecosystem balance. These practices, now recognized even by wildfire management agencies, demonstrate the value of #IndigenousStewardship in building resilient landscapes. https://lnkd.in/eR38yZwE

Rivers are known as cradles of civilization, as it was on their banks that humans built their first cities. When we let industry and city administrations pollute our rivers, we are not just creating dystopic futures for ourselves, we contribute to the destruction of life along its banks and in the Earth’s seas and oceans. While we celebrate World Rivers Day, let us reaffirm our commitment to help riverine communities protect rivers. Let us come together to protect rivers, the lifelines of life on Earth, ensuring the flourishing of countless species of micro-organisms, plants and animals, including humans.  #WorldRiversDay #ActionAid #SaveOurRivers #CleanWaterForAll

🕊️💚 Peace is not just the absence of conflict but harmony with the environment. On this #WorldPeaceDay, we reflect on the critical importance that wetlands have on peace and prosperity. Wetlands are nature’s protectors, providing essential services like water purification, flood control, and carbon storage. But their value goes far beyond their ecological function—wetlands are also vital to the livelihoods and well-being of countless communities around the world. Understanding how wetlands contribute to social, economic, and environmental resilience is the first step to ensuring that thriving populations of humans, plants, and animals can peacefully co-exist. When we protect and restore these ecosystems, we invest in a future where nature and society can flourish together. By investing in wetlands, we invest in peace. 🌱🌊

California’s Indigenous tribes have practiced cultural burns for centuries, using fire as a tool to manage the land, enhance biodiversity, and prevent destructive wildfires. As climate change worsens wildfire risk, these traditional methods are gaining renewed attention. Cultural burns help clear dense underbrush, promote healthy plant growth, and reduce the intensity of wildfires. Today, collaborations between tribal communities and state agencies are helping to restore this ancient practice, blending science with traditional knowledge to build more resilient ecosystems and protect California from escalating wildfire threats. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eTmWtYET #CulturalBurns #WildfireResilience #IndigenousKnowledge #ClimateAction #LandManagement #Conservation

Today, on World Environment Day, I had the privilege of giving a speech on the themes of Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience. During my research for this talk, I felt empowered to take action in restoring our degraded lands. I also made a personal commitment to raise more awareness and advocate for land restoration. I firmly believe that every small effort can contribute significantly to this crucial cause. #ourland #ourfuture. We are #GenerationRestoration

Today is World Environment Day and this year's theme focusses on land restoration, desertification, and drought resilience. We all have a part to play. To find out more about what you can do have a look at https://lnkd.in/eAigsVgg #generationrestoration

🚨 We must preserve and restore coastal wetlands 🚨 This research shows that turning to nature is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce disaster risk by the sea. 👉 https://ow.ly/I8LW50S4rxZ #NatureBasedSolutions

A great article sharing how One Acre Fund continues to invest in farmers and help them reap robust outcomes that will contribute to the economy, land restoration, carbon capture, increased crop yields and climate resilience 🌱 https://lnkd.in/gawVczus

Starting to give attention to the regeneration of the Ogallala Aquifer in preparation for a bioregional activation process we will begin in two weeks. As I watched this video, I noted that the presenter assumes human population growth and is unable to see regenerative pathways. We need systemic understandings of global change to see how to regenerate massively important hydrological systems like this one. For example, the work of Jason Baldes and the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative shows us how indigenous lifeways can be re-introduced to restore perennial grasslands. This could be applied to all of the Great Plains as the current civilization collapses around us. In order to see a regenerative pathway like this one, we must move beyond the "naturalizing" of unsustainable human cultures and see different worldviews for how to relate to land. Onward, fellow humans.