Climate change threatenes the existence of small and marginal cultures

An article in the New York Times (2009/07/25) highlights the problems faced by communities, whose livelihood strategies depend on natural cycles. The unpredictability of natural cycles is growing due to the global warming, and communities all over the world are feeling the consequences in their daily lives.

Decreasing fish stocks have forced the Kamayurá to feed their children with ants. This indigenous community that lives in the middle of Xingu National Park, in the Amazon forest, has used the fish as their staple food for centuries.

Like other small indigenous cultures around the world, with little money or capacity to move, they are struggling to adapt to the changes. Hotter temperatures and less rainfall and humidity have led to the extreme low water levels in the region. Fish can not get to their spawning grounds. Planting cassava has become a constant trial-and-error experiment since the old signs that used to mark the seasons, no longer apply under the unpredictable weather conditions.

Furthermore, in 2007, the Xingu National Park burned for the first time. According to chief Kotok, the Kamayaurá tribe had nowhere to escape. The smoke stung their eyes and lungs and they suffered along the animals in the park. More forest fires are expected due to the drying of the forest.

The article points out the key message of our CGP project: the plight of the Kamayurá is similar to many other indigenous communities around the world. The northern indigenous communities are struggling with the changing ice and snow conditions and their lifestyle is, according to the article, "melting away". http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/science/earth/25tribe.html

Since the focus of our project at Citizens' Global Platform is on marginal groups, climate change and citizen participation, I was glad to find out on the same week (30th of July 2009) another story highlighting the importance of the themes of CGP's "Making marginal voices heard in the UN processes". An article called "Wisdom of crowds", featured in Nature http://www.nature.com/climate/2009/0908/full/climate.2009.73.html. The key message is that climate change is inherently a social problem. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the social aspects of climate change in order to find sustainable solutions both in mitigation and adaptation.

Jenni Kauppila

CGP Project co-ordinator

3.8.2009 Tampere, Finland