As world governments continue to forge ways to implement the Paris Agreement at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference or COP26, Senate aspirant Teddy Baguilat asserts that indigenous knowledge can yield promising tactics to combat climate change.
“Indigenous peoples have built up a treasure trove of knowledge from generations of observing and coping with the environment, and it is time that we listen to our indigenous brothers and sisters to overcome the climate crisis,” Baguilat said.
Baguilat cited as an example the muyong of the Ifugaos, a community-based conservation system of small patches of forests. “The system is integral to the irrigation of rice terraces, which emphasizes the muyong’s importance to the Ifugaos,” Baguilat explained.
Indigenous peoples across the globe have various community-based conservation methods, strategies that are being promoted by the Global Indigenous Community-Conserved Areas and Territories (ICCA) Consortium, an international organization of which Baguilat is the current president.
“As the Global ICCA Consortium continues to document community-based conservation practices across the world, governments must not only learn to protect the communities concerned as pockets of climate action, but also learn from the indigenous communities as they evolve ways of resisting and responding to climate challenges,” Baguilat said.
Baguilat welcomes the discussion at COP26 of indigenous knowledge to meet the challenges of climate change and hopes that these discussions will translate to State laws to protect and promote community conservation methods.
He cautions though that the exploration of indigenous knowledge must be done with respect for the indigenous communities. “While I am sure that indigenous communities want to share their knowledge about the preservation of the planet we all live in, their insights must not be extracted by force but must be examined through dialogue where all participants are equals,” Baguilat said.
“This is another thing that indigenous peoples can teach us: Discussions with mutual respect will yield more durable lessons for all concerned,” Baguilat remarked.
Baguilat is running for the Senate in the 2022 elections under the unified ticket of Vice President Leni Robredo and Sen. Kiko Pangilinan. He aims to bring to the Senate the perspective of indigenous peoples in the promotion and protection of the environment, culture and human rights. #
