NIGHT OWL No one knows the land we live on better than indigenous peoples, whose way of life is deeply connected to the earth. Even amidst the rapid development of technology, we can still learn a lot from them. It will certainly serve humanity better if we work together with our indigenous communities, integrating both traditional wisdom and new technologies, or looking back into indigenous knowledge to find sustainable solutions to modern-day challenges.
We need to advance “indigenius innovation.” For instance, in terms of disaster risk reduction, local resources and knowledge that have been passed on from generation to generation provide valuable lessons for the creation of disaster risk reduction and management policies. Traditional weather forecasting, such as the observation of the moon, the sun, the stars, animals and insects, prove to be a valuable knowledge in disaster risk reduction.
According to a report by the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), the indigenous inhabitants of Simeulue Island in Indonesia managed to survive the catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 because of their time-tested knowledge that buffaloes run to the hills when a tsunami is coming. Meanwhile, the people who live near the Damodar River in West Bengal, India use markers inscribed on trees and the observation of ants moving their eggs to higher ground as a warning sign of impending floods. Governments can also leverage on indigenous communities’ local net.
