Climate Exchange

[

] 197

cosystems

conventional forms of knowledge, in order to provide

climate services in the form of improved land and water

management. However, in doing so it is vital to recog-

nize and protect that indigenous knowledge through

various forms of intellectual property protection.

As an example, the pictures on these pages are taken

from a project with the Yorta Yorta people of northern

Victoria in Australia. Their traditional lands encompass

parts of the Murray River with a rich network of creeks,

lagoons and wetlands, and these support the interna-

tionally significant River Red gum forest known as the

Barmah forest. Indigenous knowledge of the function-

ing of these unique systems is captured using voice and

image recording and global positioning systems. This is

then combined with more conventional forms of knowl-

edge within a global information system database to

create integrated products that, it is hoped, will lead to

improved forest and river management practices.

Indigenous involvement in carbon markets

Improved land management through the reduction of

greenhouse gas emissions and the uptake of carbon

Using indigenous knowledge to provide climate services

Before white settlement, indigenous people created an intricate system

of land management. There was no ‘pristine wilderness’, rather a

patchwork of burned and regrown areas. In using fire, aboriginal

people could plan and predict plant growth and, with it, attract

animals for hunting. They converted the land to grasslands for the

‘maintenance’ of animals, plants and fresh drinking water. Indigenous

peoples’ knowledge of, rights to and interests in land, through oral

histories and wide knowledge of natural indicators, along with their

presence in some of the most remote areas of Australia, means that

they can play a key role in monitoring and cultivating the health

of Australia’s ecosystems in the face of climate change. Indigenous

people have thousands of years of data, knowledge and practice

relating to the diverse landscapes that span the country: sea country,

river country, desert country, rainforest, bush and island country.

Aboriginal people’s understanding of species variation, the seasons

and natural events was embedded within culture, people, landscapes

and tradition long before white settlement.

Increasingly, indigenous knowledge of past climate is being

integrated into conventional climate data sets and various cultural

mapping exercises are underway in the country to capture indig-

enous knowledge and practices and integrate these with more

River Red gum trees in the Barmah forest

Image: Monash Sustainability Institute